THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

Rare  Book  Room 
GIFT  OF 

John  W.   Beckman 


<Mr 


"  I  am  going  out  to  hunt  this  morning,"  said  Mark  Brady. 
—  p.  65. 


A  STRIKE   FOR  FREEDOM 


OR 


LAW    AND    ORDER 


A  BOOK  FOR  BOYS. 


BY 


MRS.    L.    C.    TUTHILL, 

AUTHOR    OP     "  I  WILL  BE   A    GENTLEMAN,"     "  ONWARD  !     RIGHT 
ONWARD  !  "    &C. 


Wouldst  thou  be  a  dweller  in  the  woods,  and  cast  away  the  cords 
that  bind  thee  t "  —  TUPPER. 


SIXTH   EDITION, 


BOSTON: 

CROSBY,    NICHOLS,    AN±>    COMPANY. 

Ill  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

1854. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

WM.  CROSBY  AND  H.  P.  NICHOLS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of 
Massachusetts. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BY 

METCALF    AND     COMPANY, 

PRINTERS  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

PAGE 

I. 

THE  HAPPY  CIRCLE     . 

1 

II. 

THE  GOOD-HEARTED  FELLOW 

,       7 

III. 

LAW  AND  ORDER 

15 

IV. 

FROLIC  THE  FIRST  .... 

.      18 

V. 

A  RAPID  DECLINE 

21 

VI. 

FROLIC  THE  SECOND 

.      26 

VII. 

A  SUDDEN  START 

37 

VIII. 

A  COARSE  BREAKFAST     . 

.      49 

IX. 

AN  ENCAMPMENT  IN  THE  WOODS 

56 

X. 

EVERY  MAN  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

.      64 

XI. 

SHOOTING  A  BEAR 

73 

XII. 

TWINGES  OF  CONSCIENCE 

.      80 

XIII. 

SQUIRRELS  AND  WOODCOCKS 

90 

XIV. 

FREDERIC  ALLAN'S  STORY       .        * 

.      95 

XV. 

FIRE  IN  THE  WOODS    . 

102 

XVI. 

THE  ESCAPE     

.    110 

XVII. 

ETTA  HALLOWDAY 

117 

XVIII. 

SEEKING  THE  LOST 

.    124 

XIX. 

127 

XX. 

132 

XXI. 

PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE 

139 

XXII. 

PICTURES  FROM  REAL  LIFE 

,    147 

A  STRIKE  FOR  FREEDOM. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE     HAPPY     CIRCLE 

THE  sixth  boy  was  yet  to  arrive.  A 
happy  circle  it  was,  that  gathered  around 
the  table  of  Mr.  Manley,  at  Nut  Hill. 
There  was  but  one  vacant  seat  at  the 
round  table,  at  which  they  were  taking  their 
breakfast,  and  that  was  reserved  for  the 
sixth  pupil. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Manley  had  no  children 
of  their  own,  and  they  devoted  themselves 
to  the  education  of  these  boys  with  a  zeal 
and  enthusiasm  worthy  of  the  noble  cause. 

Mrs.  Manley  presided  at  the  table.  Be 
fore  her  stood  a  large  tea-tray,  —  the  cups 
were  white  as  snow,  and  the  silver  brightly 
1 


Z  THE    HAPPY    CIRCLE. 

polished.  The  lady  herself  was  the  very 
pattern  of  neatness  and  refinement.  A 
sweet,  natural  smile  came  readily  to  her  in 
telligent  face,  and  her  manner  towards  the 
boys  was  that  of  a  perfect  lady,  softened  by 
maternal  tenderness. 

Mr.  Manley  sat  opposite,  — a  tall  and 
remarkably  elegant  man,  dressed  with  scru 
pulous  propriety.  Easy  and  affable  in  his 
conversation,  the  boys  listened"  to  him  with 
evident  pleasure.  And  they  evinced  not 
less  pleasure  as  he  bountifully  supplied  their 
plates  from  the  nice  beefsteak  before  them. 
A  happier  set  of  boys  one  would  not  desire 
to  see. 

At  the  right  of  Mr.  Manley  sat  Meredith 
Long,  — or,  as  he  was  usually  called  by  the 
boys,  Merry  Long,  —  a  fat,  chubby  little 
fellow,  with  rosy  cheeks,  and  hair  as  soft 
and  curling  as  that  of  a  blue-eyed  doll. 
Ah  !  it  was  a  great  trial  to  his  fond  mother 
to  send  her  pretty  pet  away  from  her ;  but 
she  knew  there  were  few  such  schools  as 
Mr.  Manley's,  and,  for  her  Merry's  good, 
she  submitted  to  the  trial. 


THE    HAPPY    CIRCLE.       '  6 

Next  to  Meredith  Long  sat  Percy  Dobbs, 
—  the  dark-haired  Percy, — the  little  beau, 
neat  and  prim  as  a  new  pin. 

The  next  was  a  pale-faced, '  thin  lad, 
with  large,  gray  eyes  and  a  broad,  fair  fore 
head.  He  was  at  the  left  hand  of  Mrs. 
Manley,  and  evidently  she  was  well  pleased 
to  have  him  there.  Frederic  John  Milton 
Allan  was  the  name  he  bore,  but  he  was 
quite  contented  to  be  called  Fred  Allan. 

At  the  right  hand  of  Mrs.  Manley  was 
Mark  Brady,  —  the  tallest,  stoutest  boy  in 
the  school.  He  was  fifteen  years  old ;  all 
the  others  were  somewhat  younger. 

The  fifth  was  Israel  Putnam  Holley,  — 
a  lad  who  could  eat  more  sugared  peaches, 
within  a  given  time,  than  any  boy  of  the 
same  age  that  ever  was  known.  Mark 
Brady  once  said,  that  Put  Holley  always 
reminded  him,  at  meal-times,  of  a  toad  in  a 
mud-puddle  after  a  shower  of  rain.  It  was 
a  very  inelegant  comparison,  but  Mr.  Man- 
ley  himself  could  scarcely  refrain  from  smil 
ing  at  its  aptness. 

The  seat  at  Mr.  Manley's  left  was  vacant. 


4  THE    HAPPY    CIRCLE. 

Obliging  reader,  please  to  form  in  your 
"mind's  eye"  a  perfect  picture  of  Mr. 
Manley,  Merry  Long,  Percy  Dobbs,  Fred 
Allan,  Mrs.  Manley,  Mark  Brady,  Put  Hoi- 
ley,  and  the  vacant  seat,  at  the  breakfast 
table. 

The  picture  would  not  be  complete  with 
out  the  black  waiter,  Tom  Nolins,  with  his 
white  apron,  and,  if  possible,  still  whiter 
teeth,  —  teeth,  by  the  way,  which  were  too 
apt  to  be  exhibited  when  any  thing  droll 
was  said  at  table. 

Just  as  they  were  about  rising  from 
table,  Tom  was  called  out  of  the  room,  and 
soon  returned  with  a  letter  for  Mr.  Manley. 

"  Stay  a  moment,  if  you  please,"  said  he, 
opening  the  letter. 

After  reading  it,  he  passed  it  across  the 
table  to  Mrs.  Manley,  and  said,  "  Our  sixth 
will  be  here  to-morrow.  You  may  leave 
the  table,  boys." 

The  five  left  for  the  play-ground,  or 
gymnasium,  where  they  passed  an  hour 
every  morning  after  breakfast,  and  another 
hour  before  supper, 


THE    HAPPY    CIRCLE.  5 

Mrs.  Manley  read  as  follows :  — 

"To  MR.  ARCHIBALD  MANLEY, 

"  Nut  Hill,  Brantonville. 

"Sept.  4th. 

"  Dear  Sir,  —  I  am  happy  to  be  allowed 
the  privilege  of  placing  my  son  Nicholas 
in  your  family.  Providence  permitting,  we 
shall  arrive  at  Nut  Hill  on  the  7th  instant. 

"As  to  my  boy,  he  is  a  good-hearted  fel 
low,  —  nobody's  enemy  but  his  own.  I  hope 
you  will  be  so  successful  with  his  education 
as  to  render  him  one  of  the  first  men  in  the 
country.  It  is  my  ambition  to  have  him 
become  a  very  distinguished  politician.  I 
shall  confer  more  fully  with  you  when  I 
have  the  honor  to  see  you. 

"  Respectfully,  &c. 

"  THOMAS  BOLTON." 

With  a  slight  ominous  shake  of  the  head, 
Mrs.  Manley  handed  back  the  letter,  say 
ing,  "  Our  boys  are  now  so  good  and  obe 
dient,  I  almost  dread  to  have  another  come 
among  them." 

"  They  are  remarkably  obedient  to  the 


THE    HAPPY    CIRCLE. 


rules  of  the  school  and  the  family  ;  —  a  good 
and  sufficient  reason  for  the  order  and  the 
happiness  that  we  at  present  enjoy,"  re 
plied  Mr.  Manley. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW. 

THE  7th  of  the  month  arrived,  and  with 
it  Mr.  Bolton  and  his  son. 

"  This  is  my  son  Nick,  Mr.  Manley,"  said 
Mr.  Bolton,  giving  the  boy  a  hearty  slap  on 
the  back;  "somewhat  of  a  rogue,  but  a 
good-hearted  fellow  as  ever  lived.  He  has 
been  much  indulged,  and  you  must  not  be 
too  hard  upon  him  at  first.  I  can  get  along 
with  the  scamp  well  enough,  but  he  gives 
his  mother  some  trouble,  and  for  her  sake  I 
place  him  here ;  and  he  will  be  much  better 
taught  than  he  could  be  at  home.  But,  my 
dear  Sir,  do  not  break  the  boy's  spirit.  I 
would  not  have  him  come  back  to  me  a 
broken-down,  mean-spirited,  milk-and-water 
character." 


8 


THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW. 


"  Excuse  me,  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Manley,  sur 
prised  at  this  peculiar  introduction ;  "  had 
we  not  better  discuss  this  subject  by  our 
selves  ?  " 

The  boy's  dark  eyes  twinkled,  and  a 
meaning  smile  played  about  his  handsome 
mouth  during  the  introductory  speech  of 
his  father ;  he  could  scarcely  maintain  re 
spectful  gravity  as  Mr.  Bolton  replied, — 
"  Just  as  you  say,  Sir.  I  have  no  objec 
tions  to  the  fellow's  knowing  that  I  do  not 
wish  him  to  be  held  in,  at  first,  with  too 
tight  a  curb-rein.  Young  colts  will  cut  up 
sometimes.  But  Nick,  my  boy,  you  may 
go  and  make  yourself  acquainted  with  the 
boys  we  saw  playing  in  the  yard,  while  1 
have  some  further  conversation  with  Mr. 
Manley.  Stay  a  moment,  though.  Here 
is  your  mamma's  parting  present,"  contin 
ued  Mr.  Bolton,  taking  out  a  green  and  gold 
purse,  richly  ornamented.  "  She  has  been 
a  long  time  manufacturing  it,  and  it  seems 
to  be  well  filled." 

"  None  the  worse  for  that ;  I  shall  know 
how  to  reduce  it,"  replied  the  boy,  as  the 
purse  glided  very  naturally  into  his  pocket. 


THEXGOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW.  9 

As  he  left  the  apartment,  Mr.  Bolton 
said,  with  a  look  of  extreme  satisfaction, 
"  You  see,  Sir,  he  is  not  a  tame  calf." 

"  Few  boys  are  wanting  in  what  we 
usually  term  smartness,"  replied  Mr.  Manley. 

"  Well,  Sir,  that  smartness  is  just  what  I 
like,"  added  Mr.  Bolton. 

While  the  gentlemen  pursued  their  con 
versation  at  some  length,  Nicholas  found 
his  way  to  the  play-ground. 

"  Well,  fellows,  what 's  the  fun  ?  "  de 
manded  the  stranger  ;  "I  suppose  you  all 
know  I  am  Nick  Bolton,  quite  at  your  ser 
vice  for  any  sport  on  foot."  So  saying,  he 
extended  his  hand  to  the  first  boy  he  met. 

"And  what  may  I  call  you,  Sir,"  he 
asked,  as  the  boy  timidly  returned  the  salu 
tation. 

"  Frederic  John  Milton  Allan,"  stam 
mered  out  the  possessor  of  that  weighty 
and  responsible  name. 

"  Stay,  stay  a  bit !  "  exclaimed  Nicholas. 
"  How  many  are  there  of  you  rolled  into 
one  ?  You  don't  look  able  to  bear  such  a 
burden  on  your  narrow  shoulders." 


10  THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  insult  my  friend  ?  " 
fiercely  demanded  Mark  Brady,  stepping 
forward  and  doubling  up  a  pair  of  large,  red 
fists. 

"  Your  frind,  Paddy !  and  shure  I  did 
not  know  he  was  your  frind,  my  darlint," 
said  Nicholas,  with  the  broadest  Irish 
brogue. 

"My  name  is  Mark  Brady,  and  Fred  Al- 
ian  is  my  friend,  and  shall  not  be  insulted 
by  you,  Sir." 

"  Mr.  Brady  is  somewhat  hasty,"  said 
Percy  Dobbs.  advancing  with  a  mincing 
gait,  and  making  a  very  low  bow  to  Nicho 
las.  "Mr.  Brady  is  a  kind  of  self-elected 
protector  to  Mr.  Allan." 

"  And  who  elected  you  to  settle  my  af 
fairs,  Percy  Dobbs  ?  tell  me  that !  "  ex 
claimed  Mark  Brady,  now  in  a  raving  pas 
sion. 

"  Is  this  a  comedy  or  a  tragedy,  boys  ?  " 
asked  Merry  Long.  "  My  motto  is,  <  Never 
fight  when  you  can  play  ;  never  cry  when 
you  can  laugh.'  Come,  now,  let  us  turn  up 
a  copper, — heads,  fight  and  cry;  tails, 


THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW.  11 

laugh  and  be  friends."  As  he  said  this,  he 
threw  up  a  bright  red  cent.  "  Tails,  I  de 
clare  !  Now  let  us  shake  hands  all  round." 
So  saying,  he  took  Nicholas  by  the  hand,  — 
u  Welcome,  long-expected  sixth  !  my  name 
is  Merry  Long." 

"  I  should  not  think  you  could  be  merry 
long  among  these  quarrelsome  fellows,"  said 
Nicholas,  giving  him  a  hearty  shake  of  the 
hand. 

"  We  are  not  quarrelsome,"  said  Putnam 
Holley,  scraping  the  sand  with  his  right 
foot,  in  lieu  of  a  bow. 

"This  is  the  friendly  manner  in  which  I 
would  have  made  your  acquaintance  at 
first,"  said  Percy  Dobbs.  "Allow  me  to 
introduce  Israel  Putnam  Holley,  from  the 
West,  Mr.  Bolton." 

Holley  stood  scraping  his  foot,  quite 
abashed  at  this  formal  introduction. 

"  Come  forward,  Put,"  said  Merry  Long. 
"You  would  come  quick  enough  if  you 
were  called  to  supper." 

"  Glad  to  'see  you  here,"  said  Holley, 
awkwardly  extending  his  hand. 


12  THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW. 

"And  I,  too,  wished  to  welcome  you 
kindly,"  said  Fred  Allan,  timidly. 

"  Well,  you  are  a  nice  little  pair  of  tweez 
ers,  Fred  Allan.  Place  my  first  rudeness 
to  the  account  of  John  Milton,"  replied 
Nicholas,  grasping  the  extended  hand. 

"  Tweezers  !  why  do  you  call  my  friend 
tweezers  ?  "  demanded  the  yet  unpacified 
Mark  Brady. 

"  Because  he  happens  to  enjoy  very  short, 
crooked  legs,  and  a  very  long  body,  giv 
ing  him  a  striking  resemblance  to  a  pair 
of  tweezers.  No  disrespect  is  intended  to 
Mister  Allan ;  on  the  contrary,  I  quite 
fancy  your  friend." 

"  Come,  come,  Mark  Brady,  you  can  take 
a  joke  as  well  as  any  one ;  hold  out  your 
hand  and  be  friends  with  our  sixth,"  said 
Merry  Long. 

"  Not  till  he  makes  a  formal  apology  to 
our  third,"  persisted  Mark. 

"  But  if  the  principal  is  satisfied,  the  sec 
ond  ought  to  be ;  I  take  it  that  is  the  rule 
in  all  honorable  quarrels,"  said*Percy  Dobbs. 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Dobbs,"  replied  Nicholas, 


THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW.  13 

with  an  exceedingly  low  bow,  the  very 
counterpart  to  the  one  he  had  received  from 
Percy. 

"  But,  upon  my  word,  boys,  I  did  not 
mean  to  quarrel  with  you,"  continued 
Nicholas,  with  a  frank,  good-natured  smile. 
"  Let  us  be  friends." 

"  Now  you  speak  like  a  gentleman,"  said 
Mark  Brady,  spreading  out  his  broad  palm, 
and  then  giving  Nicholas  so  hearty  a  shake 
fhat  his  very  shoulder  ached  for  ten  minutes 
after. 

"  There  goes  the  supper-bell,"  exclaimed 
Holley,  clapping  his  hands. 

"  Which  sound  always  reaches  your  long 
ears  two  seconds  before  it  does  mine,"  re 
marked  Percy  Dobbs,  in  a  very  consequential 
manner. 

"  I  am  sorry  your  extremely  short  ears 
serve  you  no  better,"  said  Mark  Brady, 
laughing  heartily. 

This  was  followed  by  a  general  laugh  at 
the  would-be-elegant  Dobbs,  who,  happen 
ing  to  have  an  enormous  pair  of  red  ears, 
wore  his  hair  very  long  to  cover  them. 


14  THE    GOOD-HEARTED    FELLOW. 

"You  are  not  polite  at  all,  Sirs,"  said 
Percy,  as  he  followed  the  other  boys  from 
the  play-ground. 

"  No,  we  are  not,"  said  Allan,  putting  his 
arm  around  his  companion's  neck,  as  they 
walked  together  to  supper.  "  I  beg  your 
pardon,  Percy." 

Boys  are  frequently  rude  to  each  other  in 
this  way,  although  they  well  know  that 
personal  defects  are  not  proper  subjects  for 
ridicule. 


CHAPTER    III. 


LAW    AND    ORDER. 

THE  next  morning,  after  breakfast,  Mr. 
Manley  took  Nicholas  into  his  private  study. 

"Sit  down,  Nicholas,  I  have  several 
things  to  say  to  you,"  said  he,  kindly.  "  It 
is  expected  that  every  member  of  our  little 
community  pay  great  respect  to  the  laws  by 
which  it  is  governed.  These  laws  are  for 
our  mutual  benefit,  and  shall  be  fully  made 
known  to  you.  They  are  all  founded  upon 
the  broad,  general  principle,  '  Do  unto  oth 
ers  as  you  would  have  others  do  unto  you.' 
It  is  impossible,  you  know,  my  boy,  for  any 
well-conditioned  community  to  exist  with 
out  laws.  If  they  have  none,  they  must 
be  in  a  state  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  or 
be  governed  by  a  despot." 


16  LAW    AND    ORDER. 

Nicholas  began  to  look  rather  impatiently 
at  Mr.  Manley,  as  though  he  thought  this 
was  the  beginning  of  a  tedious  lecture. 

"I  will  detain  you  but  a  short  time," 
continued  Mr.  Manley.  "  The  community 
into  which  you  have  now  entered  is  a 
civilized,  an  intellectual,  and  a  Christian 
community.  We  expect  to  keep  the  laws 
of  the  land,  the  laws  of  the  school,  and  the 
moral  law,  —  the  law  of  the  ten  command 
ments. 

"  In  obedience  to  law  and  order,  you  will 
find  your  highest  good.  Love  to  God,  and 
love  to  man,  should  be  your  motives  for 
obedience.  Pray  to  God,  daily,  to  assist 
you  in  keeping  his  commandments,  and  ask 
his  forgiveness  if  you  should  be  so  unhap 
py  as  to  break  them,  —  ask  his  forgiveness, 
for  Christ's  sake.  I  will  leave  you  here 
for  half  an  hour,  to  study  carefully  the 
laws  or  rules  of  the  school  and  the  family, 
that  you  need  not  err  through  ignorance." 

So  saying,  Mr.  Manley  placed  a  paper  on 
the  table  before  Nicholas,  and  left  him  to 
digest  the  laws  for  himself. 


LAW    AND    ORDER.  17 

They  were  brief  and  simple.  The  hours 
for  study  and  recreation  were  mentioned, 
and  certain  hours  specified  when  the  boys 
must  not  be  off  the  grounds  belonging  to  Nut 
Hill.  Neatness  and  order  were  to  be  ob 
served  in  dress,  rooms,  and  in  school. 

Politeness,  under  the  better  name  of  Chris 
tian  kindness,  was  recommended  as  the  gov 
erning  principle  in  all  the  intercourse  of  the 
boys  with  their  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Man- 
ley,  and  with  each  other. 

After  Nicholas  had  glanced  over  the  paper, 
he  threw  it  aside,  saying  to  himself,  "  Pretty 
stiff  place  this  ;  but  I  reckon  I  shall  get  along 
swimmingly." 


CHAPTER    IV. 


FROLIC    THE    FIRST. 

AFTER  the  very  unpromising  introduction 
of  Nicholas  Bolton  to  his  school-fellows,  it 
would  scarcely  seem  probable  that  he  could 
become  a  general  favorite.  Yet  so  it  was. 
He  had  not  been  more  than  a  week  at  Nut 
Hill,  before  his  companions  thought  there 
was  nobody  equal  to  Nick  Bolton.  His  in 
timacy  was  considered  the  most  desirable 
thing  in  the  world.  He  was  quick  to  learn 
his  lessons,  and  as  quickly  forgot  them.  But 
his  quickness  gave  him  time  to  help  others, 
which  he  readily  did. 

His  well-filled  purse  afforded  him  the 
means  of  "  treating  "  to  fruit  and  confection 
ary,  from  the  tiny  shop  of  a  Frenchman  who 


FROLIC    THE    FIRST.  19 

had  lately  established  himself  not  far  from 
the  gate  at  Nut  Hill. 

Mrs.  Manley,  who  had  shaken  her  head 
so  ominously  at  the  introduction  of  the  good- 
hearted  fellow  into  the  family,  was  begin- 
•ning  to  like  him,  in  spite  of  his  faults. 

Mr.  Manley  wrote  to  Mr.  Bolton  that  Nich 
olas  was  going  on  bravely  with  his  studies, 
and  he  trusted  that  the  favorable  anticipa 
tions  which  his  parents  had  formed  would 
not  be  disappointed. 

Put  Holley,  whose  fondness  for  eating 
often  led  him  astray,  proposed  to  Nicholas, 
one  Saturday  evening,  to  rob  the  orchard  of 
a  neighbouring  farmer. 

Now,  Nicholas  did  not  care  a  straw  about 
the  apples,  but  he  had  heard  that  robbing 
orchards  was  capital  fun.  Moreover,  by 
some  surprising  mistake  with  regard  to  the 
rights  of  others,  boys  at  school,  and  older 
boys  at  college,  have  long  considered  robbing 
orchards  and  hen-roosts  a  very  pardonable 
offence,  —  quite  different  from  robbing  the 
mail,  or  a  money-drawer;  yet  they  are 
equally  trangressions  of  the  commandment, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  steal." 


FROLIC    THE    FIRST. 


Nicholas  consented  to  go,  and  coaxed 
Merry  Long  to  be  of  the  party.  They 
slyly  escaped  from  Nut  Hill  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  filled  a  pillow-case  which 
they  had  taken  for  the  purpose,  and,  unmo 
lested  by  man  or  dog,  escaped  with  their 
booty. 

It  was,  on  the  whole,  a  very  tame  affair, 
quite  different  from  what  Nicholas  expected. 
The  three  boys  hid  the  apples  under  the 
carriage-house  and  went  to  their  beds,  with 
out  having  been  suspected  of  absence  from 
the  premises  of  Nut  Hill. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  The  three 
boys  felt  guilty  and  ashamed,  although  no 
one  but  themselves  knew  of  the  theft.  Merry 
Long  whispered  to  Nicholas,  as  he  went  to 
church  arm  in  arm  with  him,  "  I  feel  cheap 
as  dirt,  don't  you  ?" 

"No,"  replied  Nicholas,  "for  I  will  not 
eat  one  of  the  apples." 

"  But  Holley  will,"  replied  Merry. 

"  He  is  a  mean  fellow,  then,"  was  the  re 
sponse  ;  "  his  whole  soul  might  be  shut  up 
in  a  cream-cake." 


CHAPTER   V. 


A    RAPID    DECLINE. 

ON  Monday  morning,  for  the  first  time 
since  he  had  been  at  Nut  Hill,  Nicholas  could 
not  recite  his  Latin  lesson  ;  for  a  very  good 
reason,  —  he  had  not  studied  it.  And  yet 
he  was  angry,  most  unreasonably  angry, 
with  Mr.  Manley,  for  giving  him  a  mark  of 
disgrace. 

This  one  fault,  as  is  often  the  case,  ren 
dered  him  careless,  and  throughout  the  morn 
ing  he  was  guilty  of  several  others.  He  up 
set  a  bottle  of  ink  all  over  the  floor.  Then, 
when  he  found  that  he  was  blamed  for  what 
he  considered  an  accident,  he  tore  all  the 
history  lessons,  which  he  had  carefully  writ 
ten,  entirely  out  of  his  book.  Not  satisfied 


22  A    RAPID    DECLINE. 

with  this  mischief,  he  wrote  some  imperti 
nent  sentences  in  his  composition  exercise, 
an  exercise  which  was  to  be  read  aloud. 

One  of  these  sentences  was,  —  "If  re 
quested  to  define  a  despot,  I  should  say,  a 
tyrant ;  for  example,  the  master  of  a  school." 

Another  was,  —  "It  is  dangerous  to  place 
power  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  does 
not  know  how  to  use  it." 

After  reading  these  specimens  of  imper 
tinence,  Mr.  Manley  quietly  and  calmly  or 
dered  Nicholas  to  go  to  his  own  room,  and 
stay  there  till  he  summoned  him  to  his  pri 
vate  study  for  an  explanation. 

Nicholas  left  with  a  haughty  stride,  and 
when  he  reached  the  door  of  the  school 
room  he  turned  round  and  said,  with  a  su 
percilious  nod,  —  "  Not  so  much  your  hum 
ble  servant,  Sir,  as  you  would  wish  me  to 
be." 

Mr.  Manley  went  on  with  the  exercises 
of  the  school  as  if  nothing  uncommon  had 
disturbed  the  usual  order  and  tranquillity. 
Before  dismissing  the  boys,  however,  he 
forbade  their  holding  any  communication 
with  Nicholas  Bolton. 


A    RAPID    DECLINE.  23 

At  dinner-time  he  sent  up  a  tray  amply 
supplied  with  food  to  the  room  of  the  delin 
quent.  Apparently,  he  had  a  good  appetite, 
for  it  came  down  empty,  excepting  that  there 
was  upon  it  a  saucy  note  for  Mr.  Manley. 

Mr.  Manley  replied  to  the  note  in  a  calm, 
dignified  manner,  setting  before  Nicholas  in 
a  strong  light  the  impropriety  of  his  conduct, 
and  begging  him,  for  the  sake  of  his  parents 
and  for  his  own  sake,  to  examine  the  whole 
matter  dispassionately.  "  When  you  have 
come  to  a  right  and  honest  decision  with 
regard  to  your  misconduct,  I  have  no  doubt," 
concluded  Mr.  Manley,  "  that  you  will  make 
'the  amende  honorable,  by  begging  my  par 
don." 

"Not  yet,  old  fellow,"  said  Nicholas  to 
himself. 

He  then  employed  an  hour  in  writing 
playful,  friendly  notes  to  all  his  companions  ; 
which  they  were  silly  enough  to  value 
highly,  —  so  silly,  as  to  think  themselves 
honored  by  a  correspondence  with  a  boy 
deservedly  in  disgrace. 

The   notes   Nicholas  tied   together   and 


24  A    RAPID    DECLINE. 

threw  out  of  the  window  ;  he  entreated  that 
his  friends  would  answer  them,  tie  their 
notes  to  a  stone,  and  send  them  through  the 
same  window. 

They  did  so. 

Their  notes  were  short  and  characteris 
tic : — 

"  I  could  have  fought  the  old  Gov.,  that 
I  could,  with  right  good-will. 

"  Yours  to  command, 

"MARK  BRADY,'' 

"I  am  afraid,  dear  Nicholas,  you  have 
done  wrong,  but  I  am  very  sorry  for  you. 
"  Your  true  friend, 

"  FREDERIC  ALLAN." 

"You  are,  Mr.  Bolton,  a  bold  fellow,  and 
I  believe  you  frightened  Mr.  Manley  out  of 
his  wits.  I  should  not  wonder  if  he  proved 
himself  a  real  coward.  I  have  always  be 
fore  this  considered  him  a  perfect  gentleman. 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"PERCY  DOBBS." 


A    RAPID    DECLINE.  25 

"  Why,  old  Nick,  what  a  hullabaloo  you 
have  kicked  up.  I  did  not  think  you  had 
so  much  spunk  in  you.  Hold  out  strong  ; 
it  will  be  all  the  better  for  us. 

"  MERRY  LONG." 

"  Meet  me,  my  dear  boy,  just  after  dark, 
at  Ribeau's  shop.  JL'OU  can  steal  out  at 
prayer-time.  I  have  something  droll  to  tell 
you. 

"ISRAEL  PUTNAM  HOLLEY." 


CHAPTER    VI. 


FROLIC    THE    SECOND. 

MONSIEUR  RIBEAU  was  reported  to  be  the 
funniest  of  little  Frenchmen,  and  was  known 
to  be  a  skilful  confectioner.  The  little 
shanty  in  which  he  had  established  himself 
contained  but  one  room,  which  served  the 
quadruple  purpose  of  parlour,  bedroom,  kitch 
en,  and  shop.  The  front  window,  — it  had 
but  one, — a  large  bow-window,  was  filled 
with  an  enchanting  array  of  cakes,  candies, 
and  colored  tissue-paper.  A  white  curtain 
was  so  arranged  in  the  back  side  of  the  win 
dow  as  to  exclude  all  impertinent  gazers  from 
viewing  the  interior.  But  if  eyes  could  de 
vour,  as  they  are  sometimes  poetically  ac 
cused  of  doing,  little  Monsieur  Ribeau  would 


FROLIC    THE    SECOND.  27 

not  have  had  a  sweet  morsel  left  in  that  at 
tractive  bow-window. 

When  any  thing  was  wanting  from  the 
shop,  the  customers  were  obliged  to  lift  a 
ponderous  knocker  upon  the  door.  A  slid 
ing  pannel  in  the  door  was  then  cautiously 
opened,  and  the  applicant  made  known  what 
it  was  that  he  wished  to  purchase.  But, 
alas  for  the  child  who  had  but  a  penny  or 
two  in  his  pockets !  — the  Frenchman  would 
receive  only  silver.  Nothing  of  this  singu 
lar  being  was  ever  seen,  excepting  the  thin, 
white  hand  which  was  reached  out  with 
confectionery,  and  into  which  the  silver  was 
dropped.  This  mystery  excited  a  deal  of 
wonder  and  curiosity  in  the*village  and  at 
Nut  Hill. 

Mr.  Manley  and  his  excellent  wife  ap 
peared  to  be  the  only  persons  who  knew 
any  thing  about  Monsieur  Ribeau,  and  what 
ever  the  secret  was,  they  c'arefully  kept  it 
to  themselves. 

Nicholas  escaped  from  his  room  at  the 
time  named  by  Putnam  Holley,  and  got  be 
yond  the  gate  without  being  observed.  He 


28  FROLIC    THE    SECOND. 

had  not  been  there  five  minutes  before  he 

4p 

was  joined  by  Holley. 

"  A  hard  day  you  have  had  of  it,  Nick  ;  1 
thought  you  would  like  something  good  by 
this  time,"  said  he. 

"  I  have  had  a  good  dinner  and  supper  ;  I 
am  not  hungry.  Was  that  all  you  wanted  ?" 
replied  Nicholas,  half  provoked  that  his  friend 
had  cajoled  him  into  this  place,  merely  that 
he  might  gratify  his  own  well-known  taste 
for  the  Frenchman's  confectionery. 

"  Now  do  not  be  displeased,  my  dear,  good 
fellow.  I  have  something  to  tell  you.  This 
Frenchman,  who  pretends  to  be  the  Man  in 
the  Iron  Mask,  the  Wandering  Jew,  or  some 
such  strange,  fhysterious  personage,  is  sus 
pected  to  be  a  woman,  or  rather  a  young 
lady." 

"  Nonsense  !  "  exclaimed  Nicholas,  "  I  do 
not  believe  a  word  of  it." 

"  Well,  I  do.  You  know  Monsieur  will 
receive  nothing  but  silver." 
.  "  That  may  be  very  provoking  to  you, 
when  you  have  only  coppers  to  spend,  but 
does  not  prove  that  it  is  a  woman,"  replied 
Nicholas. 


FROLIC    THE     SECOND.  29 

"  But  have  you  not  remarked  how  very 
white  and  small  the  hand  is  into  which  we 
drop  the  silver  ?" 

"  I  have  thought  it  looked  like  the  hand 
of  a  gentleman,  and  perhaps  he  may  be  an 
emigrant  of  distinction." 

"  You  may  be  as  incredulous  as  you  please ; 
but  Tom  Nolins  says  the  only  person  he  has 
ever  seen  go  into  the  shop,  or  come  out 
of  it,  is  a  small  woman,  with  a  close  bonnet 
and  a  veil  over  her  face." 

"  That  looks  a  little  more  like  an  argu 
ment,"  Nicholas  replied,  becoming  more  in 
terested  in  the  matter. 

"  It  would  be  somewhat  dangerous  to  rap 
with  that  tremendous  knocker,  which,  you 
know,  we  always  hear  at  Nut  Hill,  but  I  will 
tap  upon  the  sliding  panel." 

And  he  did  tap  upon  it,  again  and  again, 
without  receiving  an  answer.  "A  pound 
of  vanilla  candy  is  wanted,"  he  said,  as 
loud  as  he  durst  under  the  circumstances. 
Still  no  answer,  although  there  was  a  bright 
light  in  the  bow-window. 

"  Let  us  contrive  some  way  to  smoke  out 


30  FROLIC    THE    SECOND. 

the  object,  and  see  how  it  looks,"  said  Hoi- 
ley. 

"  I  will  jump  over  the  fence  and  go  around 
to  the  back-door ;  perhaps  there  is  a  window 
on  the  other  side  of  the  house  not  so  care 
fully  curtained." 

Nicholas  was  over  the  fence  in  a  moment, 
but  scarcely  had  he  alighted  upon  the  ground 
before  he  heard  a  shriek  from  his  companion. 
Holley,  whose  mouth  watered  for  some 
delicious  cocoanut-cakes  temptingly  near, 
dashed  the  glass  out  with  his  elbow,  and  put 
in  his  hand  to  seize  the  cakes.  A  strong 
cord,  with  a  slipper-noose,  was  instantly 
thrown  around  the  pilfering  hand,  and  made 
fast  within. 

The  shriek  brought  Nicholas  back  again 
as  quickly  as  he  went  over. 

"  O,  my  hand  !  my  hand  !  Let  go  ! ;' 
screamed  the  terrified  Holley. 

"  Let  go  there,  you  vile  old  Frenchman," 
shouted  Nicholas.  "  Let  go,  I  tell  you,  or  I 
will  smash  your  window  to  atoms." 

In  spite  of  the  threat,  the  hand  was  not 
released.  Nicholas  snatched  up  stone  after 


FROLIC    THE    SECOND.  31 

stone  from  the  ground,  and  threw  them  until 
not  a  whole  pane  was  left  in  the  window. 
Smash  went  the  glass  vases,  and  lozenges 
and  sugar-plums  rattled  like  hail  upon  the 
ground.  Smash  went  china  plates,  scatter 
ing  the  cakes  in  every  direction.  Still  the 
hand  was  held  fast. 

"  Here  is  my  knife,"  said  Holley.  taking 
it  from  his  pocket  with  his  left  hand ;  "  here, 
take  it,  and  cut  the  cord,  quick,  for  mercy's 
sake." 

Nicholas  reached  in  his  hand  to  cut  the 
cord,  but  as  he  did  so  a  noose  was  thrown 
round  it,  and  he,  too,  was  made  prisoner. 

They  both  set  up  a  fearful  yell,  and  kicked 
and  thumped  with  all  their  might. 

The  lamp  in  the  window  had  escaped 
the  general  destruction,  and  was  burning 
brightly.  It  shone  upon  the  distorted  faces 
of  the  boys,  who  were  writhing  with  agony. 

"  What  is  all  this  ?"  inquired  Mr.  Manley, 
stopping  in  front  of  the  shop,  with  Mrs.  Man- 
ley  leaning  on  his  arm.  "  Nicholas  Bolton 
and  Putnam  Holley!  What  does  all  this 
mean  ?  What  are  you  doing  here  ?" 


32  FROLIC    THE    SECOND. 

"  O,  my  wrist,  my  wrist !  O,  my  hand, 
my  hand  !"  exclaimed  Holley. 

Nicholas  bore  the  torture,  like  a  Spartan, 
in  silence. 

"  But  how  came  the  hands  there  ?"  asked 
Mrs.  Mauley,  laughing  at  the  ridiculous  ap 
pearance  of  the  boys  thus  adroitly  caught  in 
a  trap. 

"  We  could  not  make  the  old  Frenchman 
open  the  door,"  yelled  out  Holley.  "  Oh  ! 
oh  !  " 

"  That  is  no  reason  why  you  should  break 
his  window ;  every  man's  house  is  his  cas 
tle.  He  has,  besides,  been  requested  not  to 
let  my  boys  purchase  any  thing  of  him  at 
forbidden  hours.  You  have  broken  the 
laws  of  the  land  and  the  laws  of  the  school, 
and  must  be  severely  punished." 

The  cords  were  now  suddenly  cut,  and 
the  boys  stood  wringing  their  aching  hands. 

"  Perhaps  they  have  received  sufficient 
punishment,"  suggested  the  kind-hearted 
Mrs.  Manley. 

"  That  was  an  indirect  punishment ;  they 
must  pay  a  heavy  penalty  for  their  mischief 


FROLIC    THE    SECOND.  33 

Law  and  order  must  be  respected.  Go  di 
rectly  home  to  Nut  Hill,  and  do  not  come 
out  of  your  rooms  again  till  to-morrow  morn 
ing.  We  should  return  with  you,  but  we 
have  an  engagement  which  we  must  fulfil, 
and  shall  not  be  home  till  half-past  ten  to 
night." 

Nicholas  during  all  this  time  had  not 
spoken  a  word,  but  anger  was  burning 
fiercely  within  his  bosom.  As  soon  as  he 
was  out  of  Mr.  Manley's  hearing,  he  ex 
claimed,  —  "  Law  and  Order  !  Ridiculous 
catchwords  !  —  I  wish  I  might  never  hear 
them  again.  We  should  be  a  thousand  times 
happier  if  there  were  no  such  restrictions 
upon  us.  I  do  not  doubt  the  savages  were 
happier  and  better  men  than  these  sticklers 
for  Law  and  Order." 

"  Those  must  have  been  perfectly  de 
lightful  times,  when  every  body  helped 
themselves  to  what  every  body  wanted," 
said  Put  Holley. 

"  I  do  not  see  the  use,  now,  of  our  being 
imprisoned,  and  tormented  with  study  for 
the  best  part  of  our  lives.  I  should  like, 


34  FROLIC    THE    SECOND. 

of  all  things,  freedom  to  range  where  1 
please." 

"That  would  be  glorious!  But  where 
iwould  we  go  ?  " 

"  Anywhere,  anywhere,  rather  than  stay 
here  and  be  punished  severely  without  suffi 
cient  reason." 

Just  as  Nicholas  uttered  these  words,  a 
large  wagon,  drawn  by  four  stout  horses, 
came  rumbling  along.  They  •  were  now 
at  the  gate  of  Nut  Hill.  A  lamp  upon  a 
post  shone  into  the  face  of  the  wagoner, 
a  jolly-looking  young  man,  apparently  about 
twenty  years  old. 

"  Holloa,  Mister,  which  way  are  you 
driving  ?"  asked  Nicholas. 

"  Right  t'  other  way,  master." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  " 

"  I  mean  I  am  going  down  to  the  Wash 
ington  Tavern  to  bait  self  and  horses,  and 
then  I  am  going  to  drive  off  again  in  that 
quarter,"  said  he,  pointing  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  the  way  in  which  he  was  going. 
"  Is  not  that  '  bock  agin  Sawney  '  ?  " 

A  sudden  thought  struck  Nicholas.  "What 
load  hafe  you  got  ?  "  he  asked. 


FROLIC    THE    SECOND.  35 

"Just  nothing  at  all;  I  am  going  fifty 
miles  farther,  to  get  a  load  of  rags  for  our 
famous  factory  down  in  Dunstanville.  I 
dare  say  you  youngsters  have  blotted  over 
reams  of  our  paper." 

"You  are  going  to  stop  at  yonder  tav 
ern  ? " 

"  Yes,  where  they  hang  out  that  awful 
morichature  (caricature)  of  Washington. 
But  you  ask  a  great  many  questions,  stran 
ger,  for  a  man  of  your  size  j  what  are  you 
driving  at  ? " 

"  I  will  meet  you  before  the  great  stable- 
door,  at  the  tavern  yonder,  in  half  an  hour, 
and  tell  you  why  I  ask  so  many  questions. 
One  more  only  at  present.  Do  you  go  far 
ther  to-night?" 

"  Hey  !  you  are  a  queer  'un.  I  go  thirty 
miles  before  daylight." 

"  I  will  be  at  the  place  I  name  in  half  an 
hour,  and  tell  you  something  that  will  be 
for  your  advantage.  Ask  no  questions  at 
the  tavern." 

The  wagoner  drove  off. 

"What  do  you  want  with  this  man?" 
asked  Holley,  eagerly. 


36  FROLIC    THE    SECOND. 

"  I  want  to  make  a  bargain  with  him  to 
take  us  all  off  on  a  spree." 

Holley  was  startled  at  the  boldness  of 
this  reply.  "What,  all  six?"  he  eagerly 
asked. 

"Yes,  all  six.  We  will  depart  from 
abominable  Law  and  Order  this  very  night, 
and  leave  Manley  to  take  care  of  his  pets 
by  himself.  Will  you  go  ?  " 

"  If  the  other  boys  will,"  replied  Holley, 
timidly. 

"  But  the  other  boys  must  I  Remember, 
it  was  for  you,  to-night,  that  I  got  into  all 
this  trouble.  Besides,  I  have  all  the  other 
boys'  notes  in  my  pocket,  and  could  show 
Manley  that  they,  too,  have  broken  the 
laws.  Of  course,  I  would  not,  if  I  could 
help  it,  do  such  an  ungenerous  thing.  But 
hurry,  hurry  !  We  have  a  mighty  deal  of 
business  to  do  in  a  precious  little  time." 

So  saying,  they  hastened  to  the  school 
room,  where  the  boys  were  assembled  to 
study  their  lessons  for  the  morrow. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


A    SUDDEN    START. 

ALTHOUGH  it  was  only  a  little  chilly  in 
the  evening  at  this  season,  a  bright  wood- 
fire  was  burning  upon  the  hearth,  giving  a 
cheerful  air  to  the  school-room.  Around  a 
table  covered  with  green  baize  and  bril 
liantly  lighted  sat  the  four  boys. 

"  Look  at  our  hands  !  "  exclaimed  Nicho 
las  as  he  entered,  extending  his  red  and 
swollen  hand,  and  holding  Holley  by  the 
arm  with  the  other. 

A  deep  red  mark,  with  some  blood,  was 
upon  the  wrists  of  both  the  boys,  and  the 
hands  were  purple  and  swollen. 

The  boys  started  from  their  seats.  "  How 
did  it  happen  ?  Tell  us  at  once." 


38  A    SUDDEN    START. 

Nicholas,  with  the  eloquence  of  a  young 
Demosthenes,  told  the  story  of  their  wrongs, 
as  he  called  them,  and  ended  with  a  violent 
philippic  against  Mr.  Manley. 

"  He  and  his  wife  will  not  be  home  till 
half  past  ten  to-night,  and  fortune  favors  us 
wonderfully.  Let  us  go  and  have  a  rare 
frolic.  There  is  a  nice  empty  wagon  down 
at  the  tavern,  that  will  take  us  all.  You 
know  Mr.  Manley  will  be  so  glad  to  get  us 
back,  that  he  will  easily  forgive  and  receive 
us  again.  Come,  boys,  we  will  have  capi 
tal  fun ! " 

"  I  am  the  man  for  you,"  said  Mark  Bra 
dy,  throwing  his  book  across  the  room. 
"  Life  in  the  woods  for  me." 

"  Go,  then,  and  pack  up  as  many  things 
as  you  can  find  of  your  own  that  we  shall 
want." 

"  I  will  go,  too,"  said  Merry  Long. 

"  Then,  pack  my  carpet-bag,  and  your 
own,  and  when  you  have  done  so,  throw 
them  out  of  the  window,  run  down,  pick 
them  up,  arid  make  your  way  to  the  tavern 
as  quick  as  possible.  Put,  you  run  and  pack, 


A    SUDDEN     START.  39 

"  Come,  Fred  Allan,  my  man,"  continued 
Nicholas,  slapping  him  on  the  back ;  "  we 
shall  not  take  any  comfort  without  you 
and  Percy ;  come  along,  —  we  shall  have  the 
rarest  sport  in  the  world." 

"  Are  we  at  liberty  to  come  back  when 
ever  we  please  ?  "  asked  Percy  Dobbs. 

"Just  when  you  please.  We  go  for  free 
dom.  Nobody  is  obliged  to  go  or  stay, 
unless  they  choose." 

"  How  much  money  can  we  muster," 
said  Percy. 

"  There  is  mine,"  replied  Nicholas,  emp 
tying  the  contents  of  his  purse  upon  the 
table.  "  One  five-dollar  piece,  a  three-dol 
lar  note,  and  some  change.  I  dare  say  the 
others  have,  all  together,  quite  as  much." 

"  I  have  but  three  dollars ;  but,  Fred,  I 
dare  say  you  have  more  ;  you  are  as  rich  as 
Croesus." 

"  But  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  go.  I  am 
afraid  you  are  rushing  into  dreadful  mis 
chief." 

"  Now,  do  not  be  so  cowardly  and  mean. 
You  surely  would  not  stay  behind  to  report 


40  A    SUDDEN    START. 

us.  I  believe  it  is  because  you  are  so  stingy 
that  you  will  not  spare  your  money.  We 
will  not  ask  a  penny  of  you,  if  you  will  go 
yourself." 

"  I  am  not  stingy,"  said  Frederic  Allan, 
throwing  a  ten-dollar  gold-piece  and  some 
change  upon  the  table. 

Nicholas  swept  all  the  money  into  his 
purse,  saying  triumphantly,  "Now  we  are 
all  agreed,  —  we  shall  have  a  glorious  time  ! 
Hurry,  hurry !  and  meet  me  in  the  stable- 
yard.  Remember,  we  are  all  perfectly  free 
to  return." 

It  was  a  beautiful  starlit  night.  Nicholas 
hurried  on  to  the  tavern.  The  wagoner 
had  taken  his  own  bait,  as  he  called  it,  and, 
with  a  lantern  in  his  hand,  was  just  giving 
his  horses  some  oats  as  Nicholas  entered  the 
yard. 

"  Well,  Mr.  —  what  may  I  call  you  ? 
here  I  am,"  said  he. 

"  So  I  see.  Moses  Mason  is  the  name 
my  mother  gave  me,  and  I  go  by  it  still, 
when  they  do  not,  for  shortness'  sake,  call 
me  Mo  Ma.  And  what  is  your  name,  young 
Sir?" 


A    SUDDEN    START.  41 

"  Young  Nick,  my  mother  calls  me  ;  Old 
Nick,  the  boys  prefer.  But  I  have  impor 
tant  business  with  you.  Will  you  take  six 
of  us  as  far  as  you  go  to-night  ?  " 

"Six!*    What,  six  boys?" 

"  Yes,  six  jolly  boys  on  a  spree." 

"  I  like  fun  as  well  as  any  body,  but  I 
cannot  take  you,  unless  you  can  pay  well 
for  it." 

"I  will  give  you  six  dollars." 

"Say  ten,  and  I  will  carry  you  as  far  as 
I  go  before  morning,  and  that  is  thirty  good 
miles." 

"  It  is  too  much,  but  you  shall  have  it,1" 
said  Nicholas,  handing  him  the  bright  gold- 
piece  he  had  just  received  from  Fred  Allan. 

The  wagoner  held  it  before  the  lantern, 
and  turned  it  overhand  over.  "Good,  I 
declare,"  said  he,  slipping  it  into  his  pocket, 
and  thrusting  his  tongue  into  one  cheek. 
"  Where  are  your  six  ?  " 

"  Here  they  are,"  said  Nicholas,  as  Mark 
Brady  appeared,  laden  with  baggage,  and 
followed,   at  no  great  distance,  by  Merry 
Long,  with  a  carpet-bag  on  each  arm. 
4 


4x2  A    SUDDEN    START. 

"  Be  quiet,  and  stow  yourselves  upon  the 
bottom  of  the  wagon,"  said  Moses ;  "  there 
is  plenty  of  soft  straw  there.  It  is  well," 
he  added,  "  that  all  the  people  of  the  tavern 
are  just  now  at  supper." 

Percy  Dobbs  and  Fred  Allan  now  came 
into  the  yard,  and  soon  all  five  were  snugly 
stowed  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon.  Put 
nam  Holley  had  not  yet  appeared. 

The  wagoner  grew  impatient.  "All 
ready!"  he  exclaimed,  snapping  his  long 
whip. 

"  We  must  go  without  the  sneak,  if  he 
does  not  soon  appear,"  said  Nicholas ;  "  but 
wait  one  minute  longer." 

The  minute  was  gone,  —  the  wagoner 
started,  and  had  got  outside  the  yard,  when 
Holley  came,  dragging^.a  pillow-case  of  ap 
ples  with  one  hand,  and  with  his  valise  under 
his  arm. 

"  Here  comes  the  last  of  the  troop,"  said 
the  wagoner;  "crawl  in  behind." 

"  What  kept  you  so  long  ?  "  demanded 
Nicholas,  impatiently. 

"  The  bag  of  apples,"  he  whispered,  as  he 
hoisted  them  in. 


A    SUDDEN    START.  43 

%c  Just  like  you.  Jump  in.  You  would 
run  the  risk  of  breaking  your  neck  for  an 
apple."  . 

Moses  had  now  got  fairly  started ;  but  a 
man  came  out  of  the  tavern,  and  cried  out, 
"Stop!  stop!" 

"  Drive  on,"  said  Nicholas. 

"No,  no,  let  us  see  what  the  fellow 
wants,"  said  Moses. 

Moses  stopped,  and  the  man  said,  "I 
want  to  go  about  six  miles  down  the  road. 
I  will  give  you  half  a  dollar  to  carry  me." 

"  Climb  up  on  the  high  seat  with  me, 
then,"  replied  Moses,  who,  now  he  was  in 
the  way  of  it,  was  for  making  the  most  of 
the  carrying  trade. 

Greatly  to  the  consternation  of  the  boys, 
their  fellow-traveller  proved  to  be  Tom  No- 
lins,  Mr.  Manley's  black  waiter.  He  had 
taken  the  advantage  of  his  master's  absence, 
and  had  gone  to  the  tavern  before  Nicholas 
started  from  Nut  Hill.  The  successful  es 
cape  of  the  boys  was  owing  to  his  having 
deserted  his  post,  Mr.  Manley  having  charged 
him  to  keep  a  strict  watch  at  Nut  Hill. 


44  A    SUDDEN    START. 

The  runaways  kept  as  quiet  as  lambs, 
only  they  trembled  not  a  little  when  they 
heard  the  well-known  voice  of  the  waiter. 
They  had  not  gone  more  than  three  miles, 
however,  before  the  monotonous  motion 
of  the  wagon  had  lulled  them  all  to  sleep, 
excepting  Frederic  Allan.  He  was  wide 
awake,  and  in  tears.  Already  he  regretted 
the  hasty  step  he  had  taken.  Regret,  how 
ever,  did  not  produce  genuine  repentance. 
He  half  resolved  to  escape,  and  return  to 
Mr.  Manley.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to 
whisper,  "Moses,  Moses,"  but  his  courage 
failed  him.  A  want  of  moral  courage  was 
Frederic  Allan's  greatest  fault,  or,  more 
properly  speaking,  the  cause  of  all  his 
faults ;  for  he  knew  what  was  right,  and 
his  intentions  were  good ;  but  through  this 
weakness,  he  sometimes  acted  in  opposition 
to  the  dictates  of  conscience. 

"  What  load  have  you  got  to-night  ?  " 
asked  the  waiter. 

"I  am  going  for  a  load.  I  often  go 
empty  when  I  am  sent  for  a  load  of  rags," 
was  the  equivocal  reply. 


A    SUDDEN    START.  45 

"Your  wagon  moves  heavily,"  said  Tom. 

"It  is  a  heavy,  rumbling  old  concern. 
They  say  we  are  going  to  have  a  railroad, 
one  of  these  days,  right  through  the  woods. 
I  do  n't  know  where  they  won't  send  them 
locumfocums  next,  if  they  get  to  blazing 
through  these  out-of-the-way  parts." 

"  Why,  now,  you  see  thdt  would  be  a 
great  'commodation  to  me,  when  I  want  to 
be  off  on  a  spree." 

"  There  's  both  rhyme  and  reason  in 
that,"  as  my  grandmother  used  to  say. 
"So  you  are  off  on  your  own  hook ! 
Where  do  you  live  ?  " 

"  At  Mr.  Manley's  of  Nut  Hill.  A  gen 
tleman  he  is,  who  is  eddicating  six  boys," 
was  the  answer. 

Moses  thrust  his  tongue  farther  into  his 
cheek  than  usual,  as  he  said,  "  And  what 
do  these  six  boys  do  of  an  evening  ?  " 

"  Sit  in  the  school-room  and  study.  I 
see  them  now,  I  'magine,  hard  at  it.  But 
after  all,  they  are  the  cornfortablest  boys  in 
the  land,  —  have  all  that  heart  can  wish." 

Frederic  Allan  sighed  deeply,  when  he 


46  A    SUDDEN    START. 

thought  how  much  more  comfortable  it  wa* 
studying  hard  at  Nut  Hill,  than  jolting  alon^ 
over  a  rough  road,  crowded  in  with  sleeping 
boys,  lying  upon  the  bottom  of  a  wagor 
upon  straw ;  above  all,  running  away  frorr 
friends  and  duty.  Again,  he  was  about  t( 
call  out  to  the  wagoner  to  stop.  "  But,' 
thought  he,  "  I  can  get  out  when  Tom  does 
and  go  back  with  him  to-night."  Afte] 
this  good  resolution,  he  fell  soundly  asleep 

The  sudden  stopping  of  the  wagon  to  le 
Tom  get  off  awakened  some  of  the  sleep 
ers,  but  not  Frederic  Allan. 

"  Where  am  I?  "  muttered  Percy  Dobbs 

"Hush!  hush!  That  is  Tom  Nolins'i 
voice.  Glad  am  I  that  he  has  got  to  the 
end  of  his  journey." 

"Good  night!"  hallooed  Tom  to  the 
wagoner.  "  Good  night !  and  a  safe  voy 
age  to  your  old  empty  wagon." 

Moses  gave  the  lash  to  his  horses,  anc 
they  started  at  full  speed.  "  Success  tc 
your  spree,  and  a  good  scolding  from  youi 
master  to-morrow  morning,"  he  shouted  oui 
to  the  waiter.  The  latter  part  of  the  salu- 


A    SUDDEN    START.  47 

tation  was  not  heard  by  the  person  to  whom 
it  was  addressed. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  Tom  will  be  blamed," 
said  Nicholas. 

"  How  do  you  get  on  there,  youngsters  ?  " 
asked  Moses. 

"  Nicely,"  said  Nicholas.  "  Wake  us  be 
fore  you  get  to  the  tavern  where  you  intend 
stopping." 

"  It  is  not  much  of  a  tavern,  only  a  kind 
of  baiting-place." 

"  But  you  can  get  us  some  provisions." 

"  They  do  not  have  much  to  spare." 

"  Buy  us  a  ham,  a  bag  of  potatoes,  and 
some  salt." 

"  Give  me  the  money  when  we  stop,  and 
I  will  do  the  best  I  can  for  you.  Was  n't 
it  a  capital  joke  to  have  that  black  fellow 
mizzled  ?  " 

"  Capital,"  replied  Merry  Long. 

'•'Here,  let  me  get  at  the  apples,"  said 
Put  Holley,  dragging  away  at  the  pillow 
case,  and  finally  getting  his  hand  in. 

"  Well  thought  of,  Holley  ;  pass  them 
round."  The  scruples  of  Nicholas  about 


48  A    SUDDEN    START. 

eating  stolen  fruit  had  vanished.  Thus 
the  conscience  becomes  weakened  by  being 
tampered  with.  Be  guilty  of  one  sin,  and 
a  hundred  more  are  likely  to  be  the  conse 
quence. 

Before  the  apples  were  completely  dis 
cussed,  the  boys  were  again  all  asleep. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


A    COARSE    BREAKFAST. 

IT  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  before 
Moses  arrived  at  the  stopping-place,  where 
he  was  to  sleep  till  daylight.  Then  he  was 
to  awaken  the  boys,  and  give  them  some 
directions.  It  was  a  lonely  place,  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest.  The  only  sound  that 
disturbed  the  stillness  of  the  night  was  the 
barking  of  a  watch-dog.  This  continued 
for  some  time  after  their  arrival. 

"  Are  you  not  afraid  of  being  robbed  ?  " 
whispered  Percy  Dobbs  to  Nicholas. 

"Not  in  the  least,"  replied  the  latter, 
bravely.  "  I  am  thinking  about  our  en 
campment  in  the  woods.  What  a  lucky 
thing  it  was,  that  Mark  Brady  brought  off  a 
5 


50  A    COARSE    BREAKFAST. 

quantity  of  bed-clothes.  Here,  boys,  just 
get  out, — all  of  you,  —  and  let  us  spread 
the  blankets  over  us,  for  the'  night  is  getting 
chilly.' 

This  being  accomplished,  the  sleepy  run 
aways  were  soon  dreaming  again  of  far-dis 
tant  scenes. 

When  Moses  awakened  the  sleepers,  a 
few  stars  still  lingered  in  the  sky,  but  the 
east  was  glowing  with  the  light  of  morning. 

"  Pack  up  your  rattletraps  and  away," 
said  Moses. 

The  boys,  aroused  from  their  hard  bed, 
rubbed  their  eyes,  and  looked  about  for 
a  while,  amazed  and  troubled. 

"  Have  you  brought  us  the  provisions  ?  " 
said  Nicholas. 

"I  have,  but  I  had  to  beg  for  them  like 
a  man  on  the  point  of  starvation." 

"  Here,  Mark  Brady,  you  are  the  strong 
est  ;  take  this  ham,  will  you  ?  " 

"I  can't.  I  have  Put  Holley's  gun  to 
carry,  and  all  the  bed-clothes,"  said  he, 
wrapping  the  blankets  and  sheets  around 
the  gun,  and  shouldering  the  immense  bun 
dle. 


A    COARSE    BREAKFAST.  51 

"  I  am  glad  you  brought  the  gun.  Well, 
Percy  Dobbs,  you  can  carry  the  ham." 

"  No,  Sir !  I  have  a  large  carpet-bag  to 
carry.  Why  do  you  not  carry  it  yourself." 

"  Simply,  because  I  have  to  tote  the 
potatoes,"  replied  Nicholas,  throwing  *  the 
heavy  bag  across  one  shoulder. 

"  I  will  take  the  ham,  then,"  said  Merry 
Long  ;  "  if  somebody  will  carry  my  valise." 

"  I  will,"  said  Nicholas,  putting  it  under 
the  left  arm,  with  which  he  carried  his  own 
carpet-bag. 

"  Do  n't  stand  here  parleying,"  exclaimed 
Moses.  "You  had  better  be  off,  for  the 
people  of  the  house  will  soon  be  stirring. 
Have  you  any  matches  ?  If  you  have  n't,  I 
will  give  you  a  box." 

"  Now,  that  is  very  kind  in  you,  Moses," 
said  Nicholas,  pocketing  the  box,  with  great 
satisfaction. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  get  yourselves  into 
a  heap  of  trouble,  my  lads.  I  advise  you, 
after  you  have  had  a  little  sport,  to  turn  your 
faces  towards  your  nice  home  at  Nut  Hill. 
Old  Nick,  you  are  a  good-hearted  fellow. 


52  A    COARSE    BREAKFAST. 

but  rash.  Now,  march  on,  till  you  come  to 
a  white  post ;  jump  over  the  fence,  and  you 
will  find  a  footpath  that  will  lead  you  right 
into  the  woods.  There  is  not  another  house 
on  this  road,  but  the  one  we  left,  for  seven 
mil£s.  The  footpath  leads  across  the  for 
est  to  another  turnpike,  about  six  miles  off. 
The  folks  here  sometimes  go  to  meeting 
that  way.  Good  by  !  " 

"  Good  by !  good  by !  "  returned  the 
boys,  as  they  trotted  off  as  fast  as  they 
could,  laden  as  they  were  with  luggage. 

It  was  not  long  before  they  came  to  the 
white  post.  They  found  the  footpath  with 
out  difficulty,  and  after  walking  Indian  file 
about  a  mile  through  the  woods,  they  came 
to  an  open  space,  or  clearing,  of  two  or  three 
acres.  Here  they  stopped. 

Merry  Long  threw  down  the  ham,  ex 
claiming,  "I  declare,  this  is  the  hardest 
morning's  work  that  I  ever  did  in  my  life." 

A  few  old  stumps  remained  about  the 
clearing.  One  of  them  was  large  and  char 
red.  It  had,  on  some  former  occasion, 
served  for  a  fireplace. 


A    COARSE    BREAKFAST.  53 

"  Here  we  will  have  our  breakfast,"  said 
Nicholas,  throwing  the  bag  of  potatoes 
down  near  the  old  charred  stump.  u  Let  us 
get  brushwood  and  build  a  fire." 

It  was  a  bright,  clear,  September  morn 
ing.  The  sky  of  serene  blue  was  their  can 
opy  ;  a  curtain  of  dark  woods,  gayly  em 
broidered  by  an  early  frost,  surrounded 
their  spacious  breakfast-parlour. 

The  party  began  to  look  quite  cheerful, 
as  the  fire  blazed  up  in  the  old  stump,  and 
preparations  were  making  for  their  morning 
meal. 

"  We  can  broil  ham  on  the  coals,  and  roast 
potatoes  in  the  ashes,"  said  Holley,  clapping 
his  hands  and  shouting  for  joy. 

"  Gather  more  wood,  my  boys  ;  we  have 
not  coals  enough  yet,"  said  Nicholas,  as  he 
worked  away  at  the  ham,  endeavouring  to 
cut  off  some  slices  with  a  jack-knife. 

The  fire  was  replenished ;  the  ham  was 
at  length  broiled  ;  but  the  potatoes  were 
still  hard. 

"  How  shall  we  get  the  ham  off  the  coals, 
without  burning  our  fingers?" 


54  A    COARSE    BREAKFAST. 

"  O,  if  I  only  had  brought  my  silver 
fork  !  "  exclaimed  Percy  Dobbs. 

"Cut  some  sticks  and  sharpen  them  at 
the  end.  Quick,  or  the  ham  will  be 
burnt." 

The  boys  cut  the  sticks,  and  thrust  them 
into  the  ham  ;  and  so  keen  was  the  appetite 
that  the  morning  air  had  given,  that  they 
could  not  wait  for  the  potatoes  to  be  done, 
but  devoured  the  relishing  morsel  of  ham 
by  itself. 

"Now,  Nick,  I  will  take  the  jack-knife 
and  cut  some  more  ham,  to  eat  with  the  po 
tatoes,  when  they  are  done,"  said  Mark 
Brady. 

"Very  well,"  replied  Nicholas,  who  had 
been  so  anxious  to  provide  for  others,  that 
he  had  not  yet  tasted  a  morsel  himself. 
"  Very  well,  and  I  will  look  about  to  find 
the  path  out  of  this  open  space,  for  we  are 
too  near  human  beings  for  comfort." 

Nicholas  explored  the  ground,  discovered 
the  path,  and  then  came  back  to  partake  of 
the  breakfast. 

"  I  never  enjoyed  a  meal  so  much  in  my 


A    COARSE    BREAKFAST.  55 

life,"  said  Merry  Long.  "  What  does  make 
it  relish  so,  I  wonder !  " 

"  Carrying  the  ham  a  mile  before  you  eat 
it  is  the  best  sauce  in  the  world  to  make  it 
relish,"  said  Frederic  Allan. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  speak  once  more," 
replied  Merry,  u  I  thought  you  had  lost  the 
use  of  speech,  and  that  you  surely  could 
never  smile  again,  you  have  been  looking 
so  awfully  glum  all  the  morning." 

"  Really,  now,  is  it  not  a  delicious  break 
fast  ? "  said  Put  Holley,  as  he  threw  away 
the  skin  of  his  seventh  potato. 

"  It  would  have  been,  if  I  had  only  had 
my  silver  fork  to  eat  it  with,"  replied  Percy 
Dobbs. 

"  Fudge  !  "  exclaimed  Mark  Brady,  "fin 
gers  were  made  before  forks." 

"And  savages  before  gentlemen,"  was 
the  reply. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Dobbs ;  I  think 
Father  Adam  was  as  much  of  a  gentleman 
as  any  of  his  descendants,  but  I  do  not  think 
it  was  a  silver  fork  that  made  him  so." 


CHAPTER    IX. 


AN    ENCAMPMENT    IN    THE    WOODS. 

"  WE  are  too  near  the  road  for  an  en 
campment  ;  let  us  march  on  till  we  come  to 
another  opening.  It  would  not  do  to  fire  a 
gun  here,  and  we  shall  want  some  variety 
for  our  dinner,"  said  Nicholas,  shouldering 
again  the  potatoes,  and  marching  forward. 

The  boys  followed  without  a  murmur, 
excepting  Frederic  Allan.  He  began  to 
remonstrate  against  going  farther,  saying, 
"For  my  part,  I  should  prefer  returning 
to  Mr.  Manley." 

"  By  no  means  ;  we  cannot  possibly  spare 
you  to-day,"  interrupted  Nicholas.  "And 
yet,"  he  continued,  with  his  kindest  man 
ner,  "  Freedom  is  our  watchword,  —  go,  if 
you  like." 


AN    ENCAMPMENT    IN    THE    WOODS.  57 

"  It  would  be  abominably  mean  for  you 
to  return  and  report  us.  I  will  not  give  my 
consent,"  said  Mark  Brady. 

"  Nor  I,"  added  Holley. 

"  Come,  Fred,  let  us  take  up  our  rattle 
traps,  as  Moses  calls  the  luggage,  and  march 
on.  We  shall  have  a  jolly  time  to-day,  and 
to-morrow  we  will  talk  about  returning. 
Come,  be  obliging,  and  help  me  carry  the 
provender.  I  have  slung  the  diminished 
ham  across  a  stick ;  you  take  one  end  and 
I  the  other,  and  we  shall  get  on  finely." 

Thus  urged,  Allan  took  hold  of  the  stick 
and  followed  his  companions.  The  path 
became  more  narrow  as  they  advanced, 
showing  that  it  was  seldom  trodden.  Oc 
casionally  they  made  their  way,  by  breaking 
off  the  boughs  of  hemlock  and  pine  which 
obstructed  their  progress. 

"  It  is  well  to  leave  our  trail  in  this  way  ; 
we  shall  easily  find  the  path  out  of  the 
woods,"  whispered  Allan  to  Merry  Long. 
"  I  do  hope,  even  if  the  others  should  not 
consent,  that  you  will  return  with  me  to- 


58     AN  ENCAMPMENT  IN  THE  WOODS. 

Merry  Long  did  not  reply  to  Allan,  but 
called  out  to  the  boy  before  him,  "Percy 
Dobbs,  how  long  have  we  been  on  this 
path?" 

"  Five  hours,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Are  we  never  coming  to  the  end  ? "  im 
patiently  demanded  Put  Holley. 

"  Yes,  you  may  halloo  now,  for  we  are 
out  of  the  woods,"  said  Nicholas,  who  went 
ahead. 

"Hurra!  hurra,  boys!  "  exclaimed  Mark 
Brady ;  "  a  beauty  of  a  place  it  is  for  an  en 
campment.  The  nuts  will  drop  into  our 
very  mouths." 

"And  crack  themselves  in  falling,"  added 
Merry  Long. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  beautiful  spot.  The 
warm  glow  of  a  September  sun  gave  a 
bright  and  cheerful  aspect  to  the  opening. 
The  grass  had  not  lost  its  summer  verdure, 
and  the  tall  chestnut  and  walnut  trees  which 
surrounded  the  open  space  were  only  here 
and  there  touched  with  the  footprints  of 
Autumn. 

"  This  is  a  real   campus,  made  exactly 


AN    ENCAMPMENT    IN    THE    WOODS.          59 

for  our  purpose,"  said  Nicholas.  "  Throw 
down  your  invaluable  load  here,  Mark  Bra 
dy.  This  is  the  very  spot  for  us  to  pitch 
our  tent.  See,  there  is  a  clear  little  brook 
not  far  distant." 

"  And,  I  declare,  there  is  a  flat  rock  that 
will  just  do  for  a  table,"  exclaimed  Put 
Holley,  placing  the  few  apples  which  still 
remained  in  the  pillow-case  near  the  natural 
table.  The  apples  had  been  Put's  solace 
the  whole  way,  and  Nicholas  had  occasion 
ally  given  the  wink  to  Mark,  as  he  saw 
Holley  munching  them  without  passing 
any  to  his  companions. 

"  Let  us  go  to  work  and  make  our  tent," 
said  Nicholas. 

"  No,  no,  it  is  dinner-time  ;  we  will  make 
a  fire  first,  and  have  something  to  eat,"  re 
plied  Holley. 

Mark  Brady  laughed  heartily.  "You 
have  done  nothing  but  eat  ever  since  break 
fast.  You  are  for  having  your  meals  join 
together  all  the  day  through.  I  will  go  and 
shoot  some  birds  before  dinner." 

"  It    is    my    gun,"    exclaimed    Holley. 


60          AN    ENCAMPMENT    IN    THE    WOODS. 

"  You  have  insulted  me,  and  you  shall  not 
use  it.  Give  it  to  me,  this  instant!" 

"  Take  it,  then  !  But  you  have  no  per 
cussion-caps,  nor  powder  either, — they  are 
mine,  and  safe  in  my  pocket." 

"  Come,  Mark  and  Put,  don't  let  us  have 
any  quarrelling ;  we  have  enough  else  to 
do.  We  must  cut  down  some  poles  for  our 
tent.  Those  straight  young  maples,  just 
touched  by  the  frost  a  bright  red,  —  they 
will  do  nicely.  Let  us  take  our  knives, 
Mark,  and  cut  them  down.  You  and  I  will 
make  the  tent,  while  the  others  gather  wood, 
make  up  a  fire,  and  cook  the  dinner." 

"Agreed,  agreed,"  shouted  Merry  Long. 

The  poles  were,  after  much  labor,  cut 
and  fastened  in  the  ground.  They  were 
about  six  feet  tall,  and  had  a  crotch  where 
the  limbs  of  the  trees  first  branched  out : 
and  thus  they  supported  the  crosspole  for 
the  tent.  When  the  bed-quilt  was  thrown 
over,  it  was  found  too  short  to  come  to  the 
ground. 

"  We  must  splice  it  with  a  blanket." 

"A  very  goo'd  idea;  but  how?"  asked 
Nicholas. 


AN    ENCAMPMENT    IN    THE    WOODS. 


61 


"Come  to  your  dinner.  It  is  fit  for  a 
king,"  shouted  Merry  Long. 

"  It  is  three  o'clock,  a  very  genteel  hour," 
said  Percy  Dobbs,  carefully  taking  up  the 
skirts  of  his  coat,  as  he  seated  himself  upon 
a  large  stone  by  the  table-rock. 

"  Here  is  your  place,  Nick ;  and  here  is 
yours,  Mark,"  continued  Merry.  "  I  had 
the  honor  to  set  the  table,  and  place  the 
chairs." 

"  And  I  to  cook  the  dinner." 

"  And  a  first-rate  waiter  and  cook  you 
are,  Holley,"  exclaimed  Nicholas,  as  he  saw 
the  ham  and  potatoes  laid  upon  clean  pieces 
of  bark,  and  the  apples  and  nuts  spread  upon 
green  leaves. 

Novelty,  the  country  air,  and  hard  labor, 
gave  the  runaways  ravenous  appetites,  and 
their  dinner  was  soon  devoured. 

"  Now,  what  can  we  do  about  splicing  the 
bed-quilt,  the  blanket,  and  the  sheets,  for  the 
tent  ?  "  questioned  Nicholas. 

"  I  have  needles  and  coarse  thread  in  my 
valise,"  said  Percy  Dobbs. 

"  Indeed  !     Well,  you   are   more   useful 


62    AN  ENCAMPMENT  IN  THE  WOODS. 

than  I  supposed  a  long-coated  gentleman 
could  be,"  replied  Mark  Brady. 

The  needles  and  thread  were  produced, 
and  the  boys  soon  sewed  the  tent  covering 
together.  They  then  fastened  it  down  at  the 
sides  with  wooden  pegs,  which  they  sharp 
ened  for  the  purpose.  The  ends  they  filled 
up  with  branches  of  hemlock  and  oak,  the 
door  itself  being  a  large  branch  of  oak,  which 
they  moved  aside  when  they  entered,  and 
replaced  after  they  were  inside. 

When  they  had  completed  the  tent,  the 
sun  had  gone  down. 

"We  must  keep  up  a  bright  fire,"  said 
Percy  Dobbs,  "to  drive  away  the  wolves." 

"  Wolves ! "  exclaimed  Holley ;  "  wolves ! " 

"Yes,  wolves.  There  may  be  both 
wolves  and  bears  in  these  woods." 

"  No  danger  of  their  coming  near  us.  But. 
you  are  right  about  keeping  up  the  fire. 
We  will  have  only  some  potatoes  for  our 
supper.  How  well  it  is  that  we  thought  of 
salt !  " 

"  You  are  the  royal  we,  Nicholas,"  re 
marked  Frederic  Allan,  laughing. 


VN  ENCAMPMENT  IN  THE  WOODS.    63 

Nicholas  took  no  notice  of  this  remark, 
but  went  with  Mark  and  Merry  Long  to 
gather  wood  for  the  night.  When  they  re 
turned,  supper  was  ready.  They  rekindled 
their  fire,  and,  removing  their  stones  from 
the  table,  sat  around  it. 

Tired  they  were,  with  the  hardest  day's 
work  they  had  ever  done,  and  glad  to  go 
to  sleep  immediately  after  supper.  They 
laid  themselves  down  in  the  tent,  disposing 
themselves  as  comfortably  as  they  could, 
and  soon  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER  X 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER. 

THE  sun  was  far  on  its  day's  journey, 
when  the  sleepers  awoke.  They  were  stiff 
from  lying  upon  their  hard  bed,  after  a  day 
of  such  violent  exercise,  and  many  groans 
and  "  O  dears,"  followed  their  attempts  to 
rise. 

The  fire  had  gone  out,  and  the  wood  they 
had  collected  was  burnt  up.  The  lazy 
grumbled,  because  they  had  to  go  farther 
into  the  forest  to  collect  the  fallen  branches, 
and  the  hungry  and  thirsty  grumbled,  be 
cause  they  were  hungry  and  thirsty. 

"  O  dear  !  O  dear !  I  wish  I  had  a  wash 
basin,  and  a  towel,  and  a  toothbrush,"  said 
Percy  Dobbs,  as  he  stooped  over  the  brook 
and  washed  his  face  and  hands. 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER.  65 

When  he  had  finished  his  ablutions,  he 
seated  himself  upon  a  rock,  pulled  out  a 
hair-brush  and  a  pocket-mirror,  and  arranged 
his  pet  locks  over  his  ears.  He  then  took 
out  a  clothes-brush  and  began  brushing  it, 
but  finding  some  difficulty  in  removing  the 
dirt  it  had  contracted,  he  called  out,  "  Come 
here,  Put  Holley,  and  brush  my  coat." 

"  Not  I,"  said  Put.  "  Every  man  is  his 
own  master  here,  and  his  own  servant,  too ; 
I  cook  my  own  breakfast  this  morning,  and 
leave  every  body  to  do  the  same." 

And  every  body  had  to  cook  their  own, 
and  there  was  squabbling,  and  scolding,  and 
a  very  unsatisfying  meal. 

"  I  am  going  out  to  hunt  this  morning," 
said  Mark  Brady. 

"And  as  it  is  my  gun,  I  shall  go  with 
you,"  replied  Holley. 

"  Do  not  go  far  from  us,"  was  the  caution 
Nicholas  gave  as  they  departed.  "Now, 
boys,  we  have  enough  to  do,"  he  continued. 
"Let  us  make  the  tent  more  comfortable, 
by  spreading  the  ground  over  with  dry 
leaves.  We  will  then  arrange  for  our  din- 
6 


66  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER. 

ner,  so  that  we  may  have  it  in  comfortable 
order." 

"  Order  !  I  thought  there  were  to  be  no 
such  things  as  Law  and  Order  here,"  ex 
claimed  Merry  Long.  "  I  do  not  choose  to 
go  picking  up  dry  leaves,  and  bringing 
them  by  handfuls  to  the  tent." 

"  Nor  I,  either,"  said  Put  Holley. 

"  Well,  I  shall  tie  up  one  end  of  a  shirt, 
and  thus  make  a  bag  of  it,"  said  Nicholas, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  "  and  you, 
Frederic  Allan,  can  take  the  pillow-case 
and  the  potato-bag,  and  we  will  fill  one  of 
them  with  leaves  and  the  other  with  nuts." 

There  was  something  quite  irresistible 
in  the  good  humor  of  Nicholas.  He  was, 
too,  so  ready  to  take  even  more  than  his 
share  of  labor,  and  so  generous  in  yielding 
the  best  of  every  thing  to  others,  that  he 
retained  his  influence  over  Frederic  Allan. 
Although  Allan  bitterly  regretted  that  he 
had  yielded  to  that  influence,  again  his 
courage  failed,  and  he  did  as  Nicholas  re 
quested. 

Merry  Long  and  Percy  Dobbs  sat  lazily 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER.  67 

by  the  fire.  But  as  they  occasionally  heard 
the  gay  voices  of  Nicholas  and  his  compan 
ion,  they  at  length  concluded  that  it  would 
be  better  to  assist  them. 

As  Merry  Long  made  his  way  through 
some  thick  bushes  towards  the  place  whence 
the  voices  came,  he  stumbled  over  some  ob 
struction  and  fell  flat  upon  the  ground.  He 
started  up  and  turned  round,  in  his  senseless 
anger,  to  give  the  object,  whatever  it  might 
be,  a  hearty  kick.  It  was  an  old  iron  ket 
tle,  which  had  once  stood  on  three  legs,  but, 
having  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  one,  it 
had  been  thrown  aside  by  the  owner,  and 
now  was  discovered  as  a  treasure. 

"  Come  here,  Nick,"  bawled  out  Merry 
Long,  raising  up  the  kettle  and  exhibiting 
the  prize  he  had  stumbled  upon. 

"  That  is,  indeed,  a  prize  more  precious 
than  gold.  Now,  we  will  have  our  dinner 
cooked  in  style.  It  is  rusty,  but  never 
mind ;  we  can  boil  some  of  the  fat  of  the 
ham  in  it,  and  it  will  soon  be  fit  for  use." 

The  boys  were  wonderfully  delighted 
with  their  acquisition.  They  soon  brought 


68  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER. 

the  kettle  into  order,  and  boiled  the  chest 
nuts  they  had  gathered,  but  they  preferred 
to  roast  the  potatoes,  —  the  last,  unfortu 
nately,  that  they  possessed. 

They  had  finished  their  dinner,  and  Mark 
and  Put  Holley  had  not  arrived.  Night 
was  coming  on,  and  they  began  to  be 
alarmed,  lest  the  wanderers  had  ventured 
so  far  into  the  forest  that  they  would  never 
find  their  way  out  again.  A  threatening 
cloud  had  been  for  some  time  gathering  in 
the  west ;  it  now  spread  rapidly  over  the 
sky.  The  wind  moaned  through  the  trees 
dolefully,  and  the  darkness  increased  so 
suddenly,  that  the  boys  became  fearfully 
alarmed  for  their  companions. 

"  We  will  build  up  a  large  fire  to  guide 
them  to  the  campus,"  said  Fred  Allan, 
heaping  on  the  wood. 

"  What  was  that  ?  "  exclaimed  Percy 
Dobbs,  starting  up  wildly;  "is  it  not  the 
howl  of  a  wolf?" 

"It  is  only  the  wind,"  replied  Nicholas. 

"I  hear  something  besides  the  wind," 
said  Frederic  Allan.  "Listen  a  moment," 


EVEKY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER.  69 

They  held  their  breath  and  listened. 

"Help!  help!"  The  cry  came  from  a 
distance,  but  they  could  not  decide  from 
what  direction  it  came. 

Again  they  listened,  with  intense  eager 
ness. 

"  Nick  !  Nick  Bolton !  "  The  sound  came 
more  clearly,  —  a  prolonged  cry. 

"  "It  is  Mark  Brady's  voice,"  said  Nicho 
las;  "I  must  go  to  him.  But  listen  once 
more,  that  I  may  know  what  course  to 
take." 

"  Fred  !  Fred  Allan  !  "  now  sounded  clear 
and  loud,  among  the  trees  to  the  left  of  the 
tent.  Then  came  a  feebler,  but  a  piercing 
cry,  "  O,  help !  " 

"  Something  is  the  matter  with  Put  Hoi- 
ley  !  "  exclaimed  Nicholas,  rushing  into  the 
woods,  followed  by  Fred  Allan. 

"  Don't  go  !  Pray,  don't  go  and  leave 
us  !  "  implored  Merry  Long. 

"  Coming  !  coming  !  "  yelled  Nicholas,  at 
the  highest  pitch  of  his  voice. 

"  I  am  afraid  to  stay  without  you,"  urged 
Percy  Dobbs. 


70  EVERT    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER. 

"  Keep  up  a  bright  fire,"  was  the  com 
mand  of  NicholaSj  as  he  penetrated  into  the 
wood.  "Now,  Fred,  you  must  keep  watch, 
so  that  we  do  not  lose  sight  of  the  fire.'1 

Nicholas  and  Frederic  had  not  gone  far 
before  they  heard  distinctly  the  voice  of 
Mark  Brady,  saying,  — "  Keep  up  good 
courage ;  they  hear  and  answer  us.  Nick 
Bolton !  " 

"Look  out  for  the  fire,  and  direct  your 
course  towards  it,"  shouted  Nicholas. 

"  We  see  it,  we  see  it,"  was  the  almost 
instant  reply. 

"  Then  come  on." 

"I  cannot.  Put  Holley  is  badly  hurt, 
and  cannot  walk  a  step  farther." 

"  We  will  come  to  you,  then  "  ;  and  Nich 
olas  made  a  crashing  among  the  branches, 
as  he  pushed  his  way  among  them  to  the 
place  where  the  voices  came  from. 

By  the  dim  light,  they  could  just  distin 
guish  the  two  boys.  Mark  had  stuck  tight 
to  the  gun,  or,  rather,  he  had  tied  his  hand 
kerchief  to  it  and  slung  it  across  his  back, 
while  he  partly  carried  and  partly  dragged 
his  companion  along. 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER.  71 

"  What  ails  Put  ?  "  eagerly  asked  both  the 
boys  at  once. 

"  Hurt,  hurt.  Carry  him  to  the  campus, 
and  I  will  tell  you  all  about  it." 

Nicholas  and  Frederic  placed  their  hands 
firmly  together,  to  make  a  seat  for  the  suffer 
ing  boy.  Mark  lifted  him  upon  the  seat 
thus  made ;  he  put  his  arms  around  the 
necks  of  his  friends,  and  thus  they  carried 
him  safely  to  the  campus. 

"Now,  how  glad  I  am  that  we  spread 
the  leaves  in  the  tent,"  said  Nicholas,  as  they 
laid  Holley  down  upon  them. 

"  O  dear !  O  dear !  "  exclaimed  Put  as  they 
carried  him  along  ;  "  O  dear !  O  dear  !  "  as 
they  put  him  down. 

"  Where  are  you  hurt  ?  "  asked  Frederic, 
kindly. 

"  O  dear !  O  dear !  "  was  the  only  reply. 

Nicholas  and  Frederic  hastened  to  the 
fire,  where  Mark  Brady  was  telling  his 
story. 

"  So  you  see,  I  shot  the  bear " 

"  How  is  that  ?  Shot  a  bear !  "  exclaimed 
Nicholas  and  the  rest  of  the  hearers. 


72  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    MASTER. 

"  Yes,  shot  the  bear,"  continued  Mark. 

"  O  for  a  drop  of  water  !  "  cried  out  Put 
from  the  tent. 

The  boys  had  hitherto  filled  their  hands 
and  drank  from  them  at  the  brook,  or  they 
had  stooped  down  and  lapped  up  the  water  - 
like  dogs.     Now,  how  could  they  bring  it 
to  their  suffering  companion. 

"  The  kettle,  the  kettle !  "  cried  Merry 
Long,  exultingly,  as  he  ran  to  fill  it  at  the 
brook.  It  was  an  awkward  vessel  to  drink 
from,  and  Merry  was  obliged,  when  he  had 
carried  it  into  the  tent,  to  dip  the  water  out 
with  his  hand  and  give  it  to  Holley  in  that 
manner,  as  well  as  he  could ;  but  it  must  be 
confessed  that  very  few  drops  found  their 
way  into  the  mouth  of  the  sufferer. 


CHAPTER    XL 


SHOOTING    A    BEAR. 

WHEN  Merry  returned  to  the  group 
around  the  fire,  Mark  was  going  on  with 
his  narrative  of  the  day's  adventures. 

"  We  went  on,  and  on,  without  seeing  a 
bird  or  even  a  squirrel.  '  Since  we  can  find 
no  game,'  says  I,  'let  us  shoot  at  a  mark.' 
I  placed  the  leaf  of  an  old  Latin  grammar 
on  a  tree,  fired  the  shot  out  of  my  gun,  and 
then  placed  in  it  two  bullets.  I  had  scarcely 
done  so,  when  Put  yelled  out,  l  A  bear !  a 
bear ! '  pointed  his  finger  towards  it,  and 
made  for  the  nearest  tree.  The  bear  stood 
perfectly  still ;  I  fired,  and  hit  him  in  the 
throat.  Just  as  I  did  so,  crash  went  the  limb 
of  a  tree,  and  down  tumbled  Put  upon  the 
,  7 


74  SHOOTING    A    BEAR. 

ground.  I  ran  to  him  and  helped  him  up. 
( Let  us  run  for  our  lives,'  said  he,  '  for  there 
are  a  dozen  more  bears  behind  the  one  you 
shot.'  We  did  run  as  fast  as  we  could,  till 
Put's  strength  gave  out,  and  he  could  go  no 
farther;  then  I  carried  and  dragged  him 
until  my  strength  gave  out." 

"Hark!"  exclaimed  Percy  Dobbs ;  "I 
hear  a  bear  growling." 

"  Very  likely,"  said  Mark,  "  it  is  the  bear's 
wife  coming  after  me." 

"It  is  only  the  wind,"  said  Nicholas; 
"but  tell  me,  where  was  Put  hurt  ?  " 

"  All  over,"  he  says  ;  "  fortunately  he  has 
not  broken  a  bone.  He  said  he  was  killed. 
I  told  him  that  would  do  for  me  to  say,  but 
not  for  a  full-born  Yankee." 

"  Boys,  boys,  have  n't  you  something  for 
me  to  eat  ? "  cried  out  Put,  from  the  tent. 
"  I  am  half  starved  to  death." 

They  had  only  some  boiled  chestnuts  and 
a  small  piece  of  ham  to  divide  between 
Mark  and  Put  for  their  supper. 

"Well,  I  shall  go  for  some  bear's  meat 
in  the  morning,  and  we  will  have  a  nice 
steak  for  breakfast,"  said  Mark. 


SHOOTING    A    BEAR.  75 

"  But  suppose  I  do  not  choose  to  have 
you  go  off  and  leave  us  again,"  remarked 
Nicholas.  "  You  might  get  lost,  as  you  did 
to-day." 

"  You  don't  choose !  "  retorted  Brady. 
"  Who  made  you  our  captain  ?  You  brought 
us  away  from  our  nice,  comfortable  home, 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  you  should  set 
up  your  authority  over  us  here." 

"  I  say  again,  you  shall  not  go  away  from 
us  without  my  permission." 

"  I  shall  not  ask  it  of  you,  Nick  Bolton," 
replied  Brady,  fiercely.  "  We  came  here  for 
freedom." 

"  To  get  away  from  Law  and  Order,"  re 
marked  Merry  Long,  with  a  laugh. 

"  But  we  do  need  some  one  to  take  the 
command,"  said  Frederic  Allan.  "  Suppose 
you  were  to  become  our  leader,  Brady." 

"Not  with  my  consent,"  haughtily  replied 
Nicholas.  "  Brady  has  courage  enough,  but 
no  brains,  —  no,  not  brains  enough  to  fill  a 
nut-shell." 

"  Say  that  again  if  you  dare !  "  exclaimed 
Brady,  starting  from  the  ground  and  doub 
ling  up  his  fists. 


76  SHOOTING    A    BEAR. 

Nicholas  rose,  and  saying,  "  Well,  if  you 
will  fight,  take  it  then ! "  gave  Mark  such 
a  blow  on  the  head  as  made  him  reel  for 
a  moment.  Just  as  he  recovered  himself, 
and  was  about  to  return  the  blow,  there 
came  a  vivid  flash  of  lightning,  followed 
almost  instantaneously  by  a  tremendous 
clap  of  thunder. 

Horrible  it  was  to  see  the  angry,  distorted 
faces  of  the  combatants,  as  revealed  by  the 
lightning.  They  were  startled  for  an  in 
stant,  but  not  appeased.  Mark  raised  his 
hand  again  for  another  blow.  As  he  did  so, 
the  lightning  came,  with  a  burst  of  thunder 
at  the  same  instant,  so  loud  and  dreadful 
that  the  boys  all  fell  to  the  ground. 

A  large  tree  just  by  them  had  been  shiv 
ered  and  splintered  by  the  stroke.  The 
rain  immediately  fell  in  torrents.  The  boys 
recovered  from  the  shock,  and  fled  dismayed 
to  the  tent.  There  they  cowered  together, 
trembling  and  weeping. 

The  storm  howled  around  them  like 
demon  voices,  and  the  thunder  shook  the 
earth  upon  which  they  lay.  Conscience, 


SHOOTING    A   BEAR.  77 

that  truth-telling  accuser,  which  some 
times  remains  silent  or  unheeded,  now  did 
its  office. 

Merry  Long  clung  closely  to  Fred  Allan, 
and  whispered  in  his  ear,  "  I  am  afraid  to 
die, — I  am  so  wicked." 

"  So  am  I,"  replied  Allan ;  "  let  us  say 
our  prayers." 

"Did  not  somebody  speak  of  prayers," 
said  Nicholas ;  "  we  had  better  pray,  for 
there  never  was  such  a  storm  since  the 
deluge." 

"  And  who  but  old  Nick  tempted  us  here 
to  enjoy  it  ? "  bitterly  replied  Mark  Brady. 

"Forgive  me,  Mark;  forgive  me,  all  of 
you.  I  did  very  wrong." 

The  voice  of  Nicholas  trembled,  and  the 
tears  gushed  from  his  eyes,  as  he  thus  hum 
bly  asked  forgiveness. 

Put  Holley  had  been  so  overcome  by 
weariness  that  he  fell  into  a  profound  sleep, 
from  which  he  now  awoke,  so  stiff  and  lame 
that  he  could  not  turn  himself  over. 

"  Strike  a  light !  strike  a  light !  "  he  ex 
claimed.  u  I  am  dying  !  I  am  dying !  " 


78  SHOOTING    A    BEAR. 

"  We  have  no  means  of  striking  a  light, 
my  dear  fellow,"  said  Nicholas. 

Then  came  a  peal  of  thunder,  so  loud  and 
long  that  it  seemed  the  blast  of  the  last 
trumpet. 

"  0  gracious  goodness !  1  shall  die !  I 
shall  die  !  "  continued  Holley.  "  I  wish  I 
could  pray ;  but  I  am  in  such  agony  that  I 
cannot  think  what  to  say.  Will  not  some 
body  pray  ? " 

"  Frederic  Allan,  you  are  the  best  among 
us ;  please  say  the  Lord's  prayer,  will  you  ?  " 
asked  Nicholas. 

Allan  fell  upon  his  knees  and  fervently 
repeated,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heav 
en,"  &c.,  and  then,  most  earnestly,  from  the 
very  depth  of  his  soul,  cried,  "  God  be  mer 
ciful  to  me  a  sinner !  " 

All  the  boys  reverently  joined,  and  when 
the  petitions  were  uttered,  they  were  some 
what  calmed.  The  storm  subsided,  but  the 
rain  still  fell,  and  the  thunder  muttered  in 
the  distance.  As  they  lay  in  their  miserable 
tent,  cold  and  trembling,  drenched  with 
rain,  Memory  was  not,  as  described  in  the 


SHOOTING    A    BEAR.  79 

Sailor-Boy's  Dream,  "half  covered  with 
flowers,  showing  every  rose,  but  secreting 
the  thorn."  She  did  her  office  faithfully, 
hut  severely.  The  sins  they  had  com 
mitted  came  vividly  before  them,  —  their 
ingratitude  to  their  parents  and  teachers,  — 
their  disregard  of  the  word  of  God,  and 
contempt  for  his  laws.  Then  came  the 
recollection  of  their  comfortable  homes, 
contrasted  with  the  miserable  tent,  and  the 
hard  earth  for  their  resting-place,  —  the 
kindness  of  dear  friends,  —  the  tender  love 
of  a  mother^ — all  these  came  rushing  over 
their  minds,  subduing  and  softening  them. 
There  was  not  one  among  them  who  did 
not  that  night  form  good  resolutions  for  the 
future. 

The  storm  at  length  subsided,  the  night 
became  still  as  death,  and  the  wearied  wan 
derers  exchanged  the  realities  of  memory 
for  the  visions  of  sleep. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


TWINGES    OP    CONSCIENCE. 

IT  was.  a  bright  and  beautiful  morning  ; 
the  rain-drops  glittered  in  the  sun,  birds 
were  singing  in  the  trees,  and  the  serene 
sky  bore  no  traces  of  the  recent  storm. 

"What  time  is  it,  Percy  Dobbs?"  in 
quired  Nicholas,  starting  up  and  rubbing 
his  eyes. 

"My  watch  has  stopped.  I  forgot  to 
wind  it  up  yesterday.  I  wish  we  were 
within  sound  of  the  church-clock,  that  I 
might  set  it  again.  I  am  sure,  if  I  ever  get 
within  reach  of  that  sound,  I  shall  never 
desire  to  go  out  of  it  again." 

"There  is  one  comfort,  Percy, — all  our 
spare  clothing  has  been  kept  dry ;  we  can 


TWINGES    OF    CONSCIENCE.  81 

make  our  toilettes  in  our  Sunday  best,  and 
put  our  wet  clothes  in  the  sun  and  by  the 
fire  to  dry. 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do  about 
breakfast?  "  muttered  Put  Holley. 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  an  appetite  this 
morning.  It  is  a  good  sign,"  said  Nicholas, 
laughing. 

"  I  think  it  is  a  misfortune  when  there  is 
nothing  to  eat,"  grumbled  Holley. 

"  Plenty  of  nuts  blown  off  by  the  wind," 
said  Nicholas,  cheerfully,  "and  birds  and 
squirrels  to  shoot." 

The  other  boys,  all  but  Holley,  soon  fol 
lowed  Nicholas  out  of  the  tent.  A  discon 
solate-looking  set  they  were  ;  as  unlike  the 
neat,  trim,  young  gentlemen  who  started 
from  Mr.  Manley's,  as  a  shattered,  dismasted 
ship  after  a  storm  is  to  the  full-rigged,  gay 
vessel  that  sailed  out  of  port. 

But  they  washed  in  the  brook,  put  on 
their  "  Sunday  clothes,"  and  looked  like 
themselves  again. 

Nicholas  was  overflowing  with  kindness 
and  good  humor.  He  it  was  who  collected 


82  TWINGES    OF    CONSCIENCE. 

the  wood  and  made  the  fire.  He  gathered 
chestnuts  under  the  trees  and  put  them  in 
the  kettle  to  boil,  for  Put  Holley. 

"  Come,  Mark  Brady,  let  us  shake  hands 
and  be  friends.  There  is  plenty  <of  game 
now ;  we  will  go  and  shoot  some  for  break 
fast,"  said  he.  "You  shall  be  our  captain." 

"  I  wish  to  start  for  Nut  Hill  and  beg  Mr. 
Manley's  pardon  as  soon  as  possible,"  re 
marked  Frederic  Allan. 

"  But  you  surely  would  not  be  so  unkind 
as  to  leave  us,  when  poor  Holley  is  unable 
to  walk  ? " 

"  I  suppose,  then,  we  must  stay  till  to 
morrow,"  was  the  reluctant  reply. 

"  Must  we  stay  another  day  ?  What 
shall  I  do  ?  If  I  only  had  a  glass  to  drink 
out  of,  and  a  toothbrush  !  "  —  exclaimed 
Percy  Dobbs. 

"  And  your  silver  fork,"  said  Mark  Brady, 
laughing. 

"  Yes,  Sir  ;  and  my  silver  fork,  Sir.  I  am 
no  admirer  of  brutish,  savage  life." 

"Well,  you  shall  have  my  gold  pen  to 
pick  out  your  nuts  with,  this  morning," 


TWINGES   OF    CONSCIENCE.  83 

continued  Mark,  'throwing  him  the  gold  pen, 
in  its  handsome  case. 

The  merry  laugh  that  followed  put  the 
hoys  once  more  into  good  humor. 

"  Come,  Nicholas,  we  will  give  these  fel 
lows  as  nice  a  steak  for  dinner  as  they  ever 
tasted,"  and  Mark  shouldered  the  gun. 

"And  I  will  go  with  you,"  said  Merry 
Long. 

"  No,  you  shall  not,"  replied  Mark. 

"  But  I  will." 

"  I  am  the  captain  now,  — Nicholas  says 
so,  —  and  I  command  you  to  stay,  or  I  shall 
fire  upon  you,"  continued  Mark,  pointing 
the  gun  at  the  frightened  boy. 

"  No,  no,  Captain  Brady,  you  would  not 
do  that,"  gently  interposed  Nicholas.  "  But 
Merry,  my  good  friend,  there  is  enough  to 
do  here.  Gather  wood  and  keep  up  the 
fire.  We  shall  soon  have  a  delicious  break 
fast  for  you." 

"  Exactly  so  ;  go  to  work,"  added  Mark. 

Merry  went  sulkily  back,  and  Mark  and 
Nicholas  pursued  their  way  into  the  woods. 

"  I  did  not  come  here  to  work,"  said  Per- 


84  TWINGES   OF    CONSCIENCE. 

cy  Dobbs,  as  soon  as  they  were  out  of  hear 
ing.  "  I  will  not  drag  wood,  and  tear  my 
new  coat  and  pantaloons."  And  he  spread 
a  handkerchief  over  a  stone,  and  then  sat 
up  as  stiff  as  a  poker. 

"  I  will  help  you,  Merry,"  said  Frederic 
Allan,  kindly.  "  Since  we  must  remain  for 
a  day  longer,  we  will  make  ourselves  as 
comfortable  as  possible.  Let  us  bring  poor 
Holley  out  of  the  tent,  and  place  him  before 
the  fire.  Then  we  will  change  his  clothing, 
and  if  he  feels  stiff  and  sore,  we  can  make 
him  some  warm  herb-drink." 

"  So  we  will,"  replied  Merry. 

"  How  are  you,  Put  ?  "  inquired  Frederic, 
putting  his  head  into  the  tent. 

"  Very  sore  and  stiff." 

"  Well,  we  are  going  to  take  you  into  the 
pleasant  air,  close  by  the  fire." 

They  kindly  and  tenderly  helped  the  suf 
ferer,  as  Frederic  proposed. 

The  pennyroyal  for  the  herb-drink  grew 
near.  It  was  made  into  a  tea,  and  never 
was  the  best  hyson  so  much  relished  and 
enjoyed  as  this  tea,  drank  out  of  a  cigar-case 


TWINGES    OF   CONSCIENCE.  85 

which  happened  to  be  found  in  Holley's 
carpet-bag. 

"I  am  better,"  said  Holley,  "much 
better,"  after  he  had  become  thoroughly 
warmed.  "  Do  you  think  we  shall  be  able 
to  start  for  home  to-morrow  ?  " 

"Home  !  you  mean  Mr.  Manley's." 

"  No  ;  I  mean  my  own  home.  I  want  to 
see  my  mother." 

"  We  had  much  better  go  back  to  our 
sweet,  comfortable  home  at  Nut  Hill,  and 
become  reconciled  to  our  dear,  kind  Mr. 
Manley  and  his  wife,"  said  Frederic  Allan. 

"  So  I  think,"  added  Percy  Dobbs. 

"  I  should  not  dare  to  go  back  to  school, 
—  I  shall  steer  straight  for  my  own  home 
when  we  get  out  of  the  woods,"  said  Merry 
Long,  —  "  my  own,  my  real  home,  where 
my  mother  will  be  so  glad  to  see  me  that 
she  will  forgive  me  at  once." 

"  I  wish  I  could  as  easily  obtain  my 
mother's  forgiveness,"  said  Frederic,  with  a 
deep  sigh. 

"  I  thought  your  mother  was  dead." 

"  That  is  the  very  reason  her  forgiveness 


86  TWINGES    OF    CONSCIENCE. 

cannot  reach  me,"  said  Frederic,  sorrow 
fully. 

"  When  it  thundered  and  lightened  so 
dreadfully  in  the  night,  I  could  not  help 
thinking  of  the  cake  and  sweetmeats  I  had 
stolen  from  my  mother,"  whispered  Holley, 
casting  a  frightened  glance  over  his  shoul 
der,  "  and  of  a  poor  little  bound  girl,  who 
used  to  be  whipped  for  my  faults.  When 
the  lightning  glared  so  fearfully  into  the 
tent,  I  saw  the  ghost  of  the  poor,  pale  child 
in  one  corner,  making  up  faces  at  me.  O, 
it  was  frightful !  I  remembered,  too,  how 
I  used  to  torment  her,  and  then  deny  it 
stoutly  ;  and  my  poor,  dear  mother  believed 
me  when  I  told  her  lies ;  and  so  she  pun 
ished  the  innocent.  When  I  thought  I  was 
dying,  that  was  the  remembrance  that  gave 
me  so  much  pain." 

"  Thus  conscience  makes  cowards  of  us 
all,"  repeated  Allan,  partly  to  himself. 

"  Cowards  !  I  am  no  coward  now  that 
it  is  broad  daylight,"  stoutly  replied  Hol 
ley. 

"So,  doubtless,  older  folks  than  we  have 


TWINGES   OF    CONSCIENCE.  87 

thought,  after  a  night  of  agony  and  repent 
ance.  Would  it  not  be  pleasant,  —  delight- 
ful,  —  if  we  could  so  live  as  to  be  no  more 
afraid  by  night  than  by  day,  no  more  afraid 
amid  storm  and  thunder  and  lightning  than 
in  this  calm,  sweet  sunshine  ?  "  said  Allan. 

"  Yes,  that  it  would,"  replied  Merry  Long. 
"  Why  cannot  we  do  so." 

"  Because  we  have  broken  God's  laws 
and  fear  the  penalty." 

"  I  do  not  quite  understand  you,  Fred," 
replied  Percy. 

"  God's  laws  are  made  for  our  good,  and 
we  cannot  break  them  without  suffering  in 
some  way  as  the  consequence.  A  law  would 
have  no  force  unless  there  were  a  penalty 
or  punishment  for  breaking  it.  The  laws 
that  men  make  are  for  our  good,  too.  If  we 
break  them,  we  are  not  so  certain  of  punish 
ment  ;  yet  it  generally  follows,  either  di 
rectly  or  indirectly." 

"  You  astonish  me,  Fred  Allan  !  "  ex 
claimed  Percy  Dobbs. 

"  And  me  too,"  added  Merry  Long. 
"  How  could  a  boy  of  your  uncommon  sense 


88  TWINGES    OF    CONSCIENCE. 

and  learning  be  led  into  such  a  scrape  as 
this?" 

"  Because  I  had  not  courage  to  do  right. 
If  we  ever  get  back  to  Mr.  Manley's,  as  I 
fervently  hope  we  may,  I  shall  take  Law 
and  Order  for  the  motto  of  my  future  life, 
and  endeavour,  with  God's  help,  to  adhere 
to  them  faithfully." 

There  was  here  a  pause  of  some  minutes. 
Frederic  continued,  —  "  But  let  us  now  clear 
out  the  tent,  and  then  we  will  collect  leaves 
and  branches,  and  make  it  more  comfortable 
for  the  night." 

Merry  and  Frederic  then,  went  to  work 
cheerfully.  They  walked  a  short  distance, 
and  came  to  the  tree  that  had  been  shivered 
by  the  lightning. 

"  This  is  all  prepared  for  our  fire,"  said 
Merry. 

"  But  what  a  mercy  that  our  lives  are 
spared !  "  exclaimed  Frederic.  "  Supposing 
our  companions  are  not  willing  to  leave  to 
morrow  morning,  will  you  go  with  me  ? " 

11 1  should  be  afraid  to  leave  them." 

"  You  ought  to  be  more  afraid  to  stay. 
The  sooner  we  get  back,  the  better."  " 


TWINGES   OF    CONSCIENCE.  89 

"  Well,  I  will  think  about  it." 

"  But  you  must  decide  now ;  we  may  not 
have  another  opportunity.  Do  let  us  begin 
to  do  our  duty,  and  we  shall  no  doubt  have 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  our  endeavours." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,"  was  Merry's  reply. 

Just  then  they  heard  the  shouts  of  Nich 
olas  and  Mark,  and  hastened  to  the  cam 
pus. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


SQUIRRELS    AND    WOODCOCKS. 

THIS  time,  the  hunters  had  not  been  un 
successful.  They  brought  a  bunch  of  squir 
rels,  some  small  birds,  and  half  a  dozen 
woodcocks. 

"Now  we  will  have  a  genuine  Gypsy 
stew,  such  as  we  read  of  in  Epglish  story 
books,"  said  Nicholas.  "Pick  the  birds, 
skin  the  squirrels,  and  get  ready.  Merry 
Long,  you  are  the  best  cook,  and  you  dis 
covered  the  kettle ;  we  will  leave  you  to 
preside  over  it  when  we  have  got  the  ma 
terials  all  ready.  But,"  continued  Nicholas, 
"  I  have  not  shown  you  all  our  treasures," 
and  he  drew  from  a  bag  he  had  carried  with 
him  some  ears  of  green  corn. 

"  Delicious,"  exclaimed  Put  Holley. 


SQUIRRELS    AND    WOODCOCKS.  91 

"  You  have  recovered  amazingly  since 
we  left,  Put,"  said  Mark  Brady. 

"  I  have,  to  be  sure.  A  good  fire  and  a 
quantity  of  pennyroyal  tea  have  almost 
cured  me.  But  where  is  the  bear's  meat 
that  you  promised  to  bring  ?  " 

Nicholas  burst  into  an  immoderate  fit  of 
laughter,  in  which  Mark,  after  looking  a 
little  displeased  for  a  moment,  cordially 
joined. 

"  Your  horrid  black  bear,  Put,  was  noth 
ing  but  the  sturnp  of  a  tree.  The  two  bul 
lets  were  safely  lodged  in  it.  The  dozen 
other  bears  were  two  similar  stumps,  behind 
the  one  that  Mark  killed." 

The  boys  now  all  joined  in  the  laugh. 

"  I  went  to  the  top  of  a  hill,"  continued 
Nicholas,  "  and  there  I  saw  that  we  were 
only  five  or  six  miles  from  a  village.  So 
when  we  want  any  thing  we  can  send  out 
delegates  to  make  purchases." 

"  But  do  you  not  intend  to  start  for  Nut 
Hill,  to-morrow  ?  "  inquired  Frederic. 

"  No,  indeed ;  not  so  long  as  we  can  find 
such  game  as  this  in  the  woods.  What  say 
you,  Captain  Brady  ?  " 


92  SQUIRRELS    AND    WOODCOCKS. 

"  I  shall  not  think  of  such  a  thing  for  a 
week  to  come  ;  we  might  as  well  die  for  an 
old  sheep  as  a  lamb." 

Frederic  looked  earnestly  at  Merry  Long, 
but  he  was  by  this  time  so  much  engrossed 
with  the  cooking  of  the  stew,  that  he  did 
not  notice  the  inquiring  look. 

The  stew  was  at  length  completed,  and 
the  corn  nicely  roasted. 

The  miscellaneous  contents  of  the  stew, 
prepared  as  they  had  been  before  their  eyes, 
would  have  disgusted  the  least  fastidious 
at  home.  But  now  their  appetites  were  so 
sharpened  by  long  waiting,  (for  it  was 
twelve  o'clock  before  their  breakfast  was 
ready,)  that  they  ate  with  the  keenest  relish. 
But  the  manner  of  eating  !  It  would  have 
disgusted  Turks  themselves,  for  they  learn 
by  long  experience  to  carry  their  food,  gravy 
and  all,  in  their  hands,  to  their  mouths.  Not 
so  with  these  inexperienced  school-boys. 
They  almost  scalded  their  hands,  while 
fishing  out  the  bits  of  squirrel  or  bird, 
whichever  they  might  chance  to  snatch 
from  the  kettle,  and  the  gravy  or  broth 


SQUIRRELS    AND    WOODCOCKS.  93 

streamed  down  their  hands  and  over  their 
clothes,  while  the  grease  from  the  bones,  as 
they  gnawed  them,  spread  from  ear  to  ear. 

Percy  Dobbs  shuddered  with  horror  as  he 
held  up  his  hands  after  the  meal  was  over, 
and  exclaimed,  "O  for  a  napkin,  — a  nap 
kin  !  " 

When  they  had  fully  satisfied  their  appe 
tites,  there  still  remained  something  for  the 
evening  meal. 

"  Now  let  us  gather  nuts  to  roast ;  for  to 
night  we  must  have  a  right-down  jollifica 
tion,"  said  Nicholas.  "We  will  have  a 
quantity  of  branches  piled  against  the  sides 
of  the  tent  to  keep  out  the  night  air,  and 
we  will  build  up  a  glorious  fire  to  make  it 
look  cheerful  in  the  campus.  To-morrow 
morning  early,  we  will  go  out  and  shoot 
woodcock.  I  know  where  we  can  find 
hundreds  of  them." 

"Let  me  see,  what  day  is  it  ? "  said  Mer 
ry  Long.  "  I  really  have  forgotten." 

"Monday  night  we  left  Nut  Hill, — 
Tuesday  we  came  to  this  place ;  Wednes 
day  and  Wednesday  night,  —  it  is  only 
Thursday,"  replied  Mark  Brady. 


94  SQUIRRELS    AND    WOODCOCKS. 

"  It  seems  to  me  a  whole  month,"  was 
Percy  Dobbs's  reply. 

"  And  only  two  more  days  to  Sunday," 
remarked  Frederic  Allan,  soberly. 

"  Yes ;  we  will  have  a  day  of  rest  then. 
You  shall  be  our  parson,  Fred,  and  preach 
us  a  sermon,"  lightly  replied  Nicholas,  who 
seemed  to  have  quite  forgotten  the  good 
resolutions  of  the  preceding  night. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


THE  pale  new-moon  showed  her  crescent 
in  the  west,  —  then  came  the  stars, 

"  One  by  one,  upon  the  shady  sky." 

The  boys  sat  around  the  fire.  They  told 
funny  stories,  sang  lively  songs,  and  played 
merry  games.  Suddenly,  they  were  dis 
turbed  by  a  low,  prolonged  sound  in  the 
distance. 

"What  is  it?"  exclaimed  three  or  four 
at  once. 

"  The  howl  of  a  wolf,  it  must  be,"  said 
Merry  Long. 

"  Well,  there  is  no  danger  so  long  as  we 
keep  up  a  bright  fire.  I  was  just  going  to 


96 


propose  that  we  should  all  relate  our  own 
histories,  or  biographies.  Suppose  you  be 
gin,  Percy  Dobbs  ? " 

"  I  have  no  history  to  relate.  I  was  born 
a  gentleman,  brought  up  a  gentleman,  and 
lived  like  a  gentleman  until  you,  Nicholas 
Bolton,.  tempted  me  to  lead  the  life  of  a 
savage. " 

"  Well,  you  are  quite  savage  one  way,  at 
least.  Frederic  Allan,  will  you  favor  us 
with  your  story  ?  " 

"  My  autobiography? "  replied  Allan,  smil 
ing  sadly.  "  It  may  be  told  in  a  few  words. 
I  was  left  an  orphan  when  only  eight 
years  old.  I  have  a  perfect  recollection  of 
my  father  and  mother,  —  the  kindest  and 
best  of  parents.  I  remember,  too,  a  nice  old 
grandmother,  who  used  to  sit  in  a  large 
easy-chair,  by  the  side  of  the  fireplace. 
But  she  died  two  or  three  years  before  my 
father  and  mother. 

"  I  was  a  disobedient  boy.  Too  well  do  I 
remember  the  sweet,  sorrowful  countenance 
of  my  mother,  as  she  reproved  me  for  pull 
ing  out  grandmother's  knitting-needles  from 


FREDERIC  ALLAN'S  STORY.  97 

her  work.  After  the  good  old  lady  died,  I 
was  very  sorry,  for  I  had  tormented  her  in 
various  ways,  and  I  promised  ever  after  to 
be  a  good,  obedient  boy.  But  I  did  not 
keep  my  promise,  and  my  mother  often  shed 
tears  over  me  as  she  punished  me,  her  only 
son.  It  is  a  bitter  recollection,  and  the  older 
I  grow,  the  more  it  haunts  me.  My  father 
died  first;  then,  my  mother  became  very 
ill.  She  told  me  one  day  when  I  went  in 
to  see  her,  not  to  go  out  of  the  house  that 
day,  for  she  wished  me  to  be  where  I  could 
hear  immediately  if  I  were  called.  She 
extended  her  white,  thin  hand  towards  me, 
but  I  was  angry,  and  pretended  not  to  notice 
it.  She  said,  ( Come  and  kiss  me,  my  own 
darling ' ;  but  I  walked  out  of  the  room,  and, 
taking  up  my  hat,  ran  out  of  the  house,  and 
did  not  stop  till  I  reached  the  village  green, 
where  I  met  some  boys,  with  whom  I 
wanted  to  play  marbles.  I  stayed,  and  had 
two  or  three  games,  and  then  ran  home. 
When  I  got  to  the  door,  my  heart  misgave 
me ;  I  was  sorry  I  had  done  wrong,  and 
had  made  up  my  mind  to  say  so  to  my  dear 
9 


98  FREDERIC  ALLAN'S  STORY. 

mother.  I  went  in ;  the  house  was  all 
silent.  I  went  to  my  mother's  room  ; 
they  were  just  closing  her  eyes.  She  was 
dead!" 

Frederic  paused.  It  was  some  time  be 
fore  his  feelings  would  allow  him  to  pro 
ceed.  At  length  he  resumed  his  story. 

"  They  tore  me  from  the  lifeless  corpse 
of  my  mother.  How  cruel  and  indifferent 
every  body  seemed !  There  was  none  to 
love  *  poor,  little  Freddy,'  —  as  my  sainted 
mother  used  to  call  me.  O,  could  I  only 
know  that  she  had  forgiven  me  !  " 

"  But  you  were  so  young,"  remarked 
Merry  Long,  "  so  very  young." 

"  I  was  old  enough  to  have  known  and  to 
have  done  better.  That  last  act  of  disobe 
dience  will  haunt  me  to  my  dying  day." 

"I  would  not  let  it  do  so,"  said  Mark 
Brady.  "  You  have  plenty  of  money,  and 
more  talents  than  alljof  us  together." 

"And  who  earned  the  money  which  I 
now  possess?  That  father  whom  I  dis 
obeyed.  Who  instructed  me  early,  and 
gave  the  intellectual  bias  which  has  de- 


99 


termined  my  future  career?  That  sweet 
mother,  to  whom  I  was  so  unkind.  I  had 
just  begun  to  enjoy  a  little  peace  and  satis 
faction  at  Mr.  Manley's.  I  was  winning  the 
affection  of  good  Mrs.  Manley ;  for  her  sake 
I  governed  my  temper,  and  conquered  my 
stubborn  will.  But,  alas !  I  yielded  to 
temptation,  for  want  of  courage  to  resist  it, 
and  here  I  am,  bitterly  repenting  the  false 
step  I  have  taken." 

"  Come,  come,  Fred,  you  take  it  too 
much  to  heart,"  said  Merry  Long.  "  Here 
we  are,  and  we  had  better  enjoy  ourselves 
while  we  can.  I  don't  care  a  fig  for  the 
little  squabbles  I  have  had  with  my  mother, 
and  as  for  Manley,  when  we  get  over  our 
frolic  we  will  be  as  humble  as  sheep,  and 
go  back  and  make  up  for  lost  time  by 
studying  ten  times  harder  than  before." 

"  And  start  to-night,"  whispered  Frederic 
in  Merry's  ear. 

The  only  reply  was  a  decided  shake  of 
the  head,  which  spoke  the  negative  as 
plainly  as  words  could  have  done. 

"  Come,  Captain  Brady,  let  us  have  your 


100          FREDERIC  ALLAN'S  STORY. 

story,"  said  Nicholas ;  "  we  want  something 
to  drive  away  the  effects  of  Allan's  too- 
sorrowful  account  of  himself." 

Mark  looked  very  consequential  and  said, 
—  "  Listen  to  my  story.  Myself  and  nine 
other  boys  have  squabbled  along  ever  since 
I  can  remember.  My  father  is  as  ignorant 
as  one  of  his  own  cart-horses,  and  my 
mother  don't  know  any  more  than  a  cart 
wheel.  But  they  are  rich,  very  rich,  and 
they  have  sent  me  to  school  ever  since  I 
can  remember,  to  acquire  that  learning 
which  they  themselves  need.  I  have  been 
at  home  only  during  vacations  for  ten  years. 
When  there,  I  am  mortified  to  death  by  the 
vulgarity  of  the  old  codger  and  his  dowdy 
wife." 

"  Shame  !  shame  !  "  exclaimed  Merry. 

"  Ashamed  of  the  parents  who  are  giving 
you  the  means  for  a  good  education  !  "  said 
Frederic  Allan,  with  pious  horror. 

"How  can  I  help  it?"  asked  Brady, 
sulkily. 

"Are  they  not  your  best  and  kindest 
friends?  Have  you  not  been  commanded 
to  honor  and  obey  them  ?  " 


FREDERIC  ALLAN'S  STORY.  101 

"  You  need  not  preach,  Fred  Allan,  what 
you  have  found  it  so  hard  to  practise.  But 
to  my  story.  I  suppose  you  have  ob 
served  that  my  face  is  ornamented  with  as 
many  lines  and  cross-lines  as  a  map  of 
New  York .  city.  These  beautiful  marks 
were  made  by  the  hands  of  my  brothers, 
just  for  diversion  during  our  vacations. 
One  comfort  I  have,  —  I  have  left  as  many 
of  my  own  marks  on  their  ugly  faces, — 
marks  that  they  will  carry  to  their  graves. 
Mark  Brady  never  submits  to  insult." 

By  this  time  some  of  the  boys  were  nod 
ding,  and  all  looked  very  sleepy. 

"  We  must  be  stirring  early  in  the  morn 
ing.  Suppose  we  heap  up  wood  on  the 
fire  and  go  to  bed,"  said  Nicholas. 

To  this  they  all  assented,  and,  creeping 
into  the  tent,  they  drew  the  branch  that 
served  as  a  door,  over  the  entrance. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS. 

ABOUT  midnight  Nicholas  awoke,  almost 
suffocated  with  smoke.  The  tent  was  on 
fire.  He  uttered  a  loud,  piercing  cry,  which 
awoke  his  companions,  but  so  stupefied  and 
stifled  were  they,  that  it  was  some  time 
before  they  could  be  aroused  to  a  sense  of 
their  danger.  Mark  Brady  led  out  Put 
Holley  with  difficulty,  and  when  at  length 
the  three  stood  without  the  burning  tent, 
they  saw  that  three  others  were  missing. 

The  heap  of  brush-wood  at  the  entrance 
was  on  fire.  Nicholas  threw  aside  the  blaz 
ing  branches,  and,  seizing  hold  of  Merry 
Long,  dragged  him  out.  His  clothes  were 
already  on  fire.  They  rolled  him  on  the 


FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS. 


103 


ground,  and  extinguished  them.  The 
cross-pole,  with  all  the  covering  of  the  tent, 
now  fell  in,  and  blazed  up  fiercely. 

"  Fred  Allan !  Percy  Dobbs  !  "  screamed 
Nicholas;  "for  mercy's  sake,  answer  me." 

But  no  answer  came  from  the  burning 
mass.  The  blazing  materials  of  the  tent 
and  its  contents  lay  before  them.  The 
dried  leaves  upon  the  ground  had  caught, 
and  the  fire  ran  along  in  every  direction. 

"  We  must  escape  for  our  lives,"  said 
Nicholas.  "  See  !  the  woods  are  on  fire  !  " 

Extreme  terror  enabled  them  to  fly  to  the 
other  side  of  the  campus. 

"  The  wind  drives  the  flames  that  way ; 
we  must  press  forward  in  this  direction," 
continued  Nicholas,  urging  forward  the  two 
younger  boys. 

"  I  cannot  go  a  step  farther,"  said  Merry 
Long,  sinking  down  upon  the  ground. 
"My  feet!  my  feet !" 

"Are  they  burned? " 

"  Dreadfully  !  dreadfully !  " 

And  truly,  the  poor  boy  was  in  a  pitiable 
condition.  His  coat  and  stockings  hung 


104  FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS. 

about  him  in  rags ;  he  was  without  a  cap 
or  hat ;  his  hair  was  completely  burnt  off 
his  head,  and  his  face  was  blackened  and 
burnt. 

"  What  can  be  done  !  what  can  be  done  ! 
The  fire  is  increasing  ;  we  are  not  safe 
here !  "  exclaimed  Nicholas,  seizing  Merry 
and  dragging  him  along,  while  Mark  as 
sisted  Holley. 

The  wind  increased  ;  the  fire  roared  and 
raged  fearfully.  Black  columns  of  smoke 
rolled  up  into  the  sky,  and  trees  fell  with  a 
tremendous  crash. 

"  This  way !  this  way !  "  shouted  Nicho 
las,  as  he  hurried  along,  dragging  his  com 
panion. 

The  light  of  the  fire  enabled  him  to  see 
the  footpath  which  he  had  taken  the  day 
before.  They  had  not  advanced  far  before 
Merry  Long  cried  out,  —  "Leave  me  !  leave 
me  to  die !  " 

The  agony  he  endured  was  intense. 

"  I  cannot  go  a  step  farther,"  said  Hol 
ley,  sinking  down  beside  him. 

Nicholas  now,   for   the   first   time,  per- 


FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS.  105 

ceived  that  his  own  hands  were  badly 
burnt. 

"  This  path  must  lead  to  the  village  that 
we  saw  yesterday.  Try  to  go  a  little  far 
ther,  and  I  will  then  run  on  for  help  from 
the  village." 

"  No,  no ;  do  not  leave  us,  I  implore  you," 
said  Holley. 

A  lurid  light  penetrated  even  through  the 
thick  woods. 

"  Don't  you  see  the  fire  is  spreading  ?  It 
is  not  safe  to  linger  here." 

"  I  do  not  see  the  light ;  it  is  totally 
dark,"  replied  Mark. 

"  No,  it  is  not ;  I  see  you  distinctly,"  said 
Holley. 

"  Then  I  cannot  open  my  eyes.  O,  no  ! 
I  cannot ! "  exclaimed  Mark,  raising  his 
hand  to  his  eyes. 

A  piece  of  burning  wood  had  fallen  across 
the  lids,  and  they  were  now  so  swollen  that 
the  poor  fellow  could  not  raise  them. 

"Take  Merry  Long  upon  your  back 
Mark,  and  follow  me,"  said  Nicholas,  whose 
hands  were  now  so  painful  that  he  coul'd 
not  use  them. 


106  FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS. 

The  dreadful  roaring  of  the  fire  led  them 
to  believe  that  it  was  rapidly  approaching. 
Nicholas  took  off  his  own  coat,  put  it  upon 
Merry  Long,  and  assisted  him  to  mount 
upon  the  back  of  Mark  Brady.  He  then 
urged  them  forward  as  rapidly  as  he  possi 
bly  could,  but  it  seemed  to  his  impatience 
as  if  they  went  at  a  snail's  pace.  After 
they  had  gone  stumbling  on  in  this  manner 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  into  the  woods, 
Merry  said,  —  "  Put  me  down,  and  let  me 
die  here ;  I  cannot  hold  on  any  longer." 

"Can  you  see  where  you  are  going, 
Nicholas  ?  "  inquired  Mark,  in  a  sorrowful 
voice,  so  different  from  his  own,  that  it 
sounded  like  the  voice  of  an  entire  stranger. 

"Who  was  it  that  spoke?"  exclaimed 
Nicholas,  trembling  with  terror. 

"It  was  I,  Nicholas,"  said  Mark.  "I 
cannot  see  you  ;  where  are  you  ?  " 

"Here  I  am.  Is  it  you,  Mark?  O,  I 
thought  it  was  an  accusing  spirit  from  the 
other  world  that  addressed  me,"  replied 
Nicholas,  who  had  sunk  down  upon  his 
knees,  overcome  with  fear  and  agony. 


FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS.  107 

"Fred  Allan!  dear  Fred  Allan  !  If  he 
were,  only  with  us,  he  could  pray  for  us," 
said  Merry  Long,  who  now  lay  upon  the 
ground. 

The  others  sat  near  him  and  sobbed 
aloud.  Prayer  went  up  to  God  from  every 
heart. 

"  Poor  Fred  Allan,  and  Percy,  too  !  we 
shall  never  see  them  again, ".said  Merry 
Long,  after  a  pause  of  some  moments. 
"If  I  had  only  followed  Allan's  good  ad 
vice,  I  should  have  saved  his  life  and  my 
own.  Nicholas,  tell  Mr.  Manley  how  I  re 
pented  before  I  died,  and  ask  him  to  forgive 
me." 

The  suffering  boy  groaned  aloud,  and  no 
one  had  a  consolatory  word  to  offer. 

"  O  my  poor,  dear  mother !  "  he  ex 
claimed  in  agony. 

This  was -too  much.  Their  own  distant 
homes  came  vividly  before  them ;  friends 
dearly  loved,  but  often  unkindly  treated, 
were  now  sadly  remembered.  What  a  para 
dise  seemed  their  sweet  home  at  Nut  Hill, 
and  how  kind  and  affectionate  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Manley ! 


108  FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS.  , 

The  dark,  windy  night  was  around  the 
unsheltered  boys.  Every  gust  made  them 
thrill  with  agony.  But  wearied  and  worn 
out  with  suffering,  they  at  last  slept,  —  all 
but  Nicholas.  The  pain  in  his  hands  was 
intense ;  but  the  more  intense  agony  of 
remorse  was  preying  at  his  heart. 

"  O  God !  "  he  exclaimed,  from  the  depth 
of  his  agitated  soul ;  "  O  God !  bring  us 
safely  out  of  trouble,  and  I  will  serve  thee 
faithfully  all  the  days  of  my  life." 

The  half-hour  that  passed  while  his  com 
panions  slept  seemed  to  him  an  age  of  mis 
ery.  "I  have  brought  all  this  upon  myself 
and  these  poor  boys,"  thought  he.  "  I,  who 
have  so  often  been  called  a  good-hearted 
fellow,  —  nobody's  enemy  but  my  own. 
Little  did  they  know  how  wicked  this  heart 
has  been." 

Then  came  the  dreadful  thought,  "  How 
shall  I  ever  be  able  to  tell  Mr.  Manley  of 
the  terrible  fate  of  Frederic  and  Percy  ?  " 

A  feeble  moan  from  Merry  Long  attracted 
his  attention. 

"  What  is  it,  Merry  ?  Can  I  do  any  thin£ 
for  you  ? " 


FIRE    IN    THE    WOODS.  109 

"  Give  me  some  water  !  O,  give  me  a  drop 
of  water !  "  he  replied,  opening  his  parched 
lips  and  rolling  his  tongue  about  his  hot, 
fevered  mouth. 

"I  will  go  and  try  to  find  some  help  for 
you.  Stay  here,  all  of  you,  till  I  come 
back." 

"  But,  Nicholas,  you  know  I  am  blind  ; 
how  can  I  ever  find  the  way  out  of  the 
woods  without  you  ?  "  said  Mark  Brady, 
with  that  fearful  tone  of  sorrow  which  had 
before  so  startled  Nicholas. 

"  Mark,  my  dear  fellow,  I  will  bring  help 
to  you  or  perish  in  the  attempt,"  exclaimed 
Nicholas. 

"  Farewell !  "  said  Merry  Long ;  "  I  shall 
not  live  to  see  you  again.  Send  my  love  to 
my  poor  mother." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


THE    ESCAPE. 

THE  night  of  the  fire,  Frederic  Allan  lay 
nearest  the  entrance  ;  next  to  him  was  Percy 
Dobbs. 

"  Do  not  go  to  sleep,  Percy,"  whispered 
Frederic  in  his  ear. 

"  Why  not?" 

"  I  will  tell  you  when  the  others  are  all 
asleep.  Lie  perfectly  still." 

But  the  boys  were  restless  and  unquiet 
upon  their  hard  bed.  It  was  a  long  time 
before  their  regular  breathing  gave  evidence 
that  they  were  in  the  land  of  dreams. 

"Will  you  go  with  me,  Percy,"  whis 
pered  Frederic  ;  "if  you  will,  we  will  start 
immediately." 


THE    ESCAPE.  Ill 

"  I  am  afraid  to  go  through  the  woods 
without  more  of  us  together." 

"  There  is  no  more  danger  than  there  is 
in  sleeping  here.  What  protection  have  we 
now?  It  is  better  for  us  to  do  what  is 
right." 

Here  Put  Holley  muttered  in  his  sleep,  — 
"  I  am  sure  I  studied  my  grammar  lesson." 

"  Poor  fellow  !  "  again  whispered  Fred 
eric.  "How  much  better  it  would  be  for 
him  if  he  had  studied  in  our  pleasant  school 
room,  and  gone  from  it  to  his  comfortable 
bed ! " 

"  O,  would  it  not  be  delightful !  "  re 
sponded  Percy. 

"Then  let  us  creep  out  carefully,"  con 
tinued  Frederic.  "  Here  is  your  carpet-bag, 
and  my  valise." 

Stealthily  and  slowly  they  removed  the 
branch  of  the  tree,  and,  without  disturbing 
the  sleepers  within,  replaced  it.  The  fire 
blazed  brightly,  and  shed  its  flickering  light 
upon  the  trees  that  surrounded  the  campus. 

"  How  shall  we  know  our  way  ?  "  asked 
Percy,  as  they  were  about  to  enter  the 
wood. 


112  THE    ESCAPE. 

"  The  stars  will  be  our  guide.  I  have 
been  watching  them  to-night.  There  is 
the  polar  star ;  and  there,  peeping  through 
the  trees,  is  the  Great  Bear." 

"  A  great  bear,  did  you  say  ?  Where  ? 
where  ?  " 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  Percy.  The  con 
stellation  Ursa  Major,  I  mean.  Since  Mark 
Brady's  black  bear  turned  out  to  be  only  a 
stump,  we  need  not  terrify  ourselves  by 
imagining  wild  beasts  in  the  woods." 

The  dry  leaves  rustled  under  their  feet 
at  every  tread,  and  the  wind  sighed  through 
the  solemn  woods.  The  path  was  so  nar 
row  that  only  now  and  then  could  they 
catch  a  glimpse  of  a  single  twinkling  star. 
Groping  along  in  the  darkness,  they  pursued 
their  doubtful  way.  But  their  hearts  grew 
lighter  at  every  step ;  they  were  following 
the  dictates  of  conscience,  —  going  back 
to  duty  and  the  comforts  of  home.  They 
kept  on  their  course,  through  the  narrow 
path  in  the  woods,  for  more  than  an  hour, 
without  stopping. 

"  I  am  so  tired  that  I  must  rest  awhile," 


THE    ESCAPE.  113 

said  Percy,  at  last,  throwing  down  his  car 
pet-bag,  and  placing  himself  on  the  ground 
beside  it. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  go  to  sleep,  Percy : 
we  had  better  press  forward,"  urged  Fred 
eric. 

"  I  cannot  go  a  step  farther  to-night," 
was  the  reply  of  the  weary  boy,  already 
nodding. 

Just  then  a  distant  clock  struck  one.  It 
sounded  solemnly  through  the  dark  woods, 
and  yet  it  was  cheering  and  animating  to 
the  wanderers. 

Percy  started  to  his  feet,  exclaiming, 
"  That  is  the  most  joyful  sound  that  I  ever 
heard  in  my  life." 

"  It  is  indeed  a  joyful  sound  ;  it  tells  of 
our  nearness  to  Christian  people.  Let  us 
thank  God."  Frederic  fell  upon  his  knees, 
Percy  followed  his  example,  and  a  few  mo 
ments  were  passed  in  silent  prayer. 

"  Now  let  us  press  onward,"  said  Fred 
eric,  "  I  think  the  path  grows  wider."  And 
it  was  so ;  for  hitherto  it  had  been  only  a 
footpath,  now  it  was  the  road  made  by  the 
10 


114  THE    ESCAPE. 

carts  that  came  for  loads  of  wood.  The 
boys  now  walked  on  side  by  side,  and  arm 
in  arm. 

"  How  we  shall  look  when  we  get  to  the 
village  !  "  exclaimed  Percy ;  "  so  dirty  and 
slovenly !  I  hope  we  shall  have  a  chance 
to  wash  ourselves  and  put  on  clean  linen 
before  any  body  sees  us." 

Frederic  smiled  at  this  proof  of  his  com 
panion's  ruling  passion,  but  he  kindly  re 
plied,  —  "  Neatness  is  an  excellent  thing  ;  I 
have  heard  some  one  say  that  it  was  next 
to  the  cardinal  virtues." 

"  Is  it  not  horrid  to  live  in  the  filthy, 
abominable  manner  we  have  done  for  three 
days  past  ?  No  one  ever  need  talk  to  me 
of  the  pleasures  of  savage  life,  or  the  com 
forts  of  the  backwoodsman,  after  this." 

"  No  ;  nor  of  the  pleasure  of  being  our 
own  masters.  How  much  happier  we  were 
under  the  control  of  superior  minds !  " 

"  I  am  afraid  to  meet  Mr.  Manley." 

"  How  could  we  be  betrayed  into  such  a 
ridiculous  affair  as  this !  It  is  perfectly 
amazing.  You  say,  Percy,  that  you  are 


THE    ESCAPE.  115 

afraid  to  meet  Mr.  Manley  ;  I  am  not.  Here, 
in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  where  no  hu 
man  eye  is  upon  us,  I  feel  the  presence  of 
the  Supreme  Being,  and  rejoice  in  it.  I  am 
not  afraid  now  ;  but  I  was  the  night  of  that 
dreadful  thunder-storm.  I  trust  I  have  sin 
cerely  repented,  and  been  forgiven  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  now  I  feel  at  peace.  Let 
us  both  choose  Him.  who  now  sees  us,  for 
the  guide  of  our  youth,  and  our  portion  for 
ever." 

"  I  have  never  thought  so  seriously  of 
these  matters  before,"  said  Percy. 

"  Well,  we  will  remember  this  solemn 
night  all  our  lives,  and  consider  it  the  turn 
ing-point  from  the  path  of  evil  to  that  of 
duty,  and,  may  I  not  add,  holiness  ?  There 
is  something  very  striking  to  me  in  that  ex 
pression,  'the  beauty  of  holiness.'  " 

They  now  emerged  from  the  woods. 
The  clear  heavens  shone  with  myriads  of 
stars.  A  breathless  stillness  prevailed. 
The  boys  leaned,  for  a  moment,  upon  a  rail- 
fence  by  a  high-road,  and  raising  their  eyes 
to  the  sublime  sky  above  them,  were  filled 
with  solemn  awe. 


116  THE    ESCAPE. 

The  clock,  clear  and  full,  sounded  out  two. 
They  started,  jumped  over  the  fence,  and 
found  they  were  quite  near  to  the  village. 
A  solitary  light  from  a  distant  window 
shone  bright  and  cheeringly,  like  "a  good 
deed  in  a  naughty  world." 

They  pressed  forward,  and  soon  were  in 
front  of  the  church.  It  seemed  to  have 
been  recently  built,  for  it  was  a  small  Gothic 
edifice,  with  an  open  porch  in  front. 

"  We  will  take  shelter  in  the  porch  for 
the  rest  of  the  night,"  said  Allan. 

"  Are  you  not  afraid,  so  near  the  church 
yard?"  asked  Percy,  shuddering. 

"  I  am  more  afraid  of  the  living  than  the 
dead  ;  but  to-night  I  fear  neither." 

So  saying,  Frederic  threw  down  his  car 
pet-bag  for  a  pillow,  commended  himself  to 
the  care  of  his  Heavenly  Father,  and  was 
soon  fast  asleep.  Percy  immediately  fol 
lowed  his  example. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


ETTA    HALLO* 

THE  sun  was  shining  brightly  into  the 
open  porch,  when  Frederic  and  Percy 
awoke.  A  sweet  little  girl,  apparently 
twelve  or  thirteen  years  old,  stood  looking 
anxiously  at  them.  In  one  hand  she  held 
a  pretty  basket  filled  with  warm  biscuit, 
and  in  the  other,  a  pitcher  of  milk. 

Frederic  Allan  started  up,  wondering 
much  where  he  was,  and  rubbing  his  eyes 
to  know  whether  he  were  still  dreaming  or 
awake. 

Percy,  too,  started  up,  and,  as  the  most 
natural  thing  for  him,  began  brushing  the 
dust  from  his  coat.  Then,  seeing  the  little 
girl,  he  made  his  very  best  bow,  and  awk 
wardly  said,  —  "How  do  you  do,  ma'am." 


118  ETTA    HALLOWDAT. 

Frederic  could  scarcely  forbear  smiling  at 
this  flourish  from  his  friend.  "  Where  are 
we,  Miss  ? "  he  inquired  of  the  stranger, 
who  still  stood  with  her  sweet,  blue  eyes 
intently  fixed  upon  them. 

"In  the  porch  of  our  church,"  she  re 
plied. 

"  Excuse  me,  what  town  or  village  is 
this?" 

"Brenton, — I  did  not  understand  you." 

"You  look  like  a  good  angel,  come  to 
bring  us  food  and  drink,"  said  Percy,  with 
another  bow,  to  execute  which  he  took 
off  his  black  velvet  cap,  and  held  it  in  his 
hand. 

"  I  am  no  angel,"  said  the  little  stranger, 
with  a  bright  smile,  "but  I  have  come  to 
bring  you  some  breakfast." 

"We  are  very  tired  and  hungry,"  said 
Frederic,  taking  the  basket,  while  Percy 
took  the  pitcher  from  her  hand;  "but  how 
did  you  know  that  we  so  much  needed  this 
kindness  ? " 

"  My  father  is  the  clergyman  of  this  par 
ish  ;  he  saw  you  here  early  this  morning, 


ETTA    HALLOWDAY.  119 

and  said  you  looked  pale  and  weary. 
Mamma  proposed  to  send  you  some  break 
fast,  and  I  begged  to  bring  it  to  you,  as 
papa  had  to  go  immediately  to  visit  a  sick 
parishioner,  two  miles  off." 

Here  the  little  stranger  seated  herself 
upon  the  lowest  step  of  the  porch,  with  her 
back  turned  to  the  boys,  .that  they  might 
not  be  embarrassed  while  partaking  of  the 
breakfast  she  had  brought!  Never  was  milk 
so  refreshing,  never  was  biscuit  so  deli 
cious, —  at  least,  so  thought  the  hungry 
boys. 

"  To  whom  are  we  indebted  for  this  very 
great  kindness  ? "  asked  Frederic,  as  he 
handed  back  the  empty  pitcher  and  basket. 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hallo wday  is  my  father's 
name." 

"  And  will  you  show  us  the  way  to  your 
father's  house,  Miss  Hallo  wday  ?  "  said 
Frederic. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  young  girl,  coloring 
up  at  hearing  herself,  for  the  first  time,  called 
Miss  Hallowday. 

While  taking  his  breakfast,  Frederic  had 


120  ETTA    HALLOWDAY. 

formed  a  resolution  to  ask  the  advice  and 
assistance  o'f  the  clergyman,  and  now  has 
tened  to  put  it  in  execution. 

As  Etta, — for  that  was  her  name,  —  as 
Etta  tripped  along,  Allan  asked  her  how  far 
distant ville  was  from  Brenton. 

"  A  great  many  miles ;  I  do  not  know 
how  many.  You  are  two  of  the  boys  who 
left  Mr.  Manley's  last  Monday  night. 
Where  are  the  other  four?"  said  Etta, 
laughing. 

"How  did  you  know  any  thing  about 
us  ? "  inquired  Percy,  with  wonder. 

"  You  are  Percy  Dobbs,  and  this  must  be 
Mr.  Frederic  Allan." 

Great  was  the  astonishment  of  both  the 
boys  at  this  startling  announcement. 

"It  is  very  strange  that  you  should  know 
us.  Miss  Hallowday,"  said  Percy,  "for  I 
should  not  know  myself  in  such  shabby, 
dirty-looking  clothing." 

"  It  was -not  very  wonderful  that  I  should 
know  you,  after  reading  such  a  particular 
description  as  that,"  said  Etta,  pointing  to 
a  handbill  stuck  upon  a  tree. 


ETTA    HALLOWDAY.  121 

"  One  Hundred  Dollars  Reward  ! 
11  Six  boys  from  the  school  of  Mr.  Man- 
ley,  Nut  Hill, ville,  are  missing.     They 

probably  have  wandered  farther  from  their 
late  place  of  residence  than  they  intended, 
and  are  unable  to  discover  the  way  home. 
Any  person  who  can  give  information  which 
will  lead  to  the  restoration  of  the  boys  to 
Nut  Hill  will  receive  the  above  reward,  and 
exceedingly  oblige  their  afflicted  friend, 

"ARCHIBALD  MANLEY." 

Then  followed  a  particular  description 
of  each  of  the  boys. 

"  Good,  kind  Mr.  Manley !  "  exclaimed 
Allan,  his  eyes  filling  with  tears,  which  he 
hastily  brushed  away.  "  So  gently  he 
mentions  our  departure,  as  if  it  were  acci 
dental  ! " 

They  now  approached  the  house  of  Mr. 
Hallowday. 

"  Come  in,"  said  Etta,  "  mamma  will  be 
very  happy  to  see  you." 

She  showed  them  into  a  neat  little  par 
lour,  and  then  went  to  call  her  mother. 
11 


122  ETTA    HALLOWDAY. 

Percy  Dobbs  walked  up  to  the  mirror,  and 
looked  at  himself  with  extreme  mortifica 
tion.  His  coat  was  torn  in  several  places  ; 
his  linen  soiled ;  his  hair  tangled ;  his  face 
and  hands  intolerably  dirty. 

"  What  a  fright !  "  exclaimed  he,  taking 
off  his  cap,  and  running  a  pocket-comb 
through  his  long  hair. 

Mrs.  Hallowday  entered  the  parlour  with 
a  smile.  "  So  you  are,  indeed,  two  of  the 
runaways  from  Nut  Hill.  Etta  has  been 
telling  me  about  the  handbill.  Mr.  Hallow- 
day  had  not  seen  it  when  he  left  this 
morning.  He  thought  you  were  two 
homeless  foreigners.  Where  are  your  com 
panions  ? " 

"  We  left  them  sleeping  in  the  tent  which 
we  made  in  the  woods.  I  did  not  know 
that  we  were  thus  publicly  advertised,  when 
I  proposed  to  come  to  your  house,"  said 
Frederic,  with  the  color  mounting  to  his 
temples.  "  I  came  for  the  purpose  of  con 
fessing  who  we  were,  and  of  asking  Mr.  Hal 
lo  wday's  advice." 

"  He  will  be  home  soon.     In  the  mean 


ETTA    HALLOWDAY.  123 

time,  let  me  show  you  to  a  room  where  you 
can  arrange  your  dress  and  make  yourselves 
comfortable." 

With  many  thanks,  the  boys  followed 
Mrs.  Hallowday  to  the  neat  bedroom. 

"When  you  have  performed  your  ablu 
tions,"  said  she,  "you  had  better  take  a 
comfortable  nap." 

"  How  sweet  and  nice !  "  whispered  Percy, 
about  half  an  hour  after,  as  he  was  falling 
into  a  quiet  sleep. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


SEEKING    THE    LOST. 

REFRESHED  by  their  comfortable  nap, 
Frederic  and  Percy  gladly  accepted  an  invi 
tation  to  come  down  stairs  to  .luncheon.  A 
little  table  was  spread  for  four  persons.  The 
biscuit,  though  cold,  had  not  lost  the  delicate 
relish  which  had  gratified  their  morning 
appetite,  and  the  cake  seemed  wonderfully 
nice. 

When  the  boys  had  enjoyed  the  lun 
cheon,  Frederic  asked  Mrs.  Hallowday  the 
distance  from  Brenton  to  Nut  Hill,  adding 
that  he  and  his  companion  wished  to  start 
immediately. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  replied  ;  "  but  here 
comes  Mr.  Hallowday,  he  will  tell  you." 


SEEKING    THE    LOST.  125 

A  tall,  dignified  man,  with  a  benevolent 
countenance,  entered  the  apartment.  He 
looked  at  the  strangers,  without  recognizing 
them  at  first  as  the  same  that  he  had  seen 
in  the  porch. 

"Master  Frederic  Allan."  said  Mrs.  Hal 
lo  wday  ;  "I  have  forgotten  the  name  of 
your  friend." 

11  Percy  Dobbs." 

"  Two  of  the  boys  from  Mr.  Manley's," 
said  Mr.  Hallowday,  with  surprise.  He  had 
been  reading  the  handbill. 

"We  are,  Sir,"  said  Frederic,  looking 
very  much  ashamed,  "  and  we  wish  to  know 
how  we  can  get  back  as  quickly  as  possible 
to  Nut  Hill." 

"  But  where  are  the  other  four  ?  " 

"  In  the  woods.  I  should  think  about  six 
or  eight  miles  from  this  place." 

"  In  the  woods  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Hallow- 
day.  "  The  woods  are  on  fire.  Which 
way  did  you  come  ?  " 

Mr.  Hallowday  walked  rapidly  to  the 
door,  followed  by  all  the  rest.  Frederic 
looked  for  the  church,  and  then  pointed  in 


126  SEEKING    THE    LOST. 

the  direction  from  which  Percy  and  himself 
had  come.  Dark  volumes  of  smoke  as 
cended  from  the  woods. 

"We  must  go  for  them  immediately. 
Had  you  a  fire  ?  " 

"  We  left  a  large  fire  blazing  before  the 
tent,  on  the  campus.  Do  let  us  go  at  once,5' 
said  Frederic. 

"  But  you  are  too  tired  to  go,"  said  Etta, 
as  her  father  left  to  order  horses  and  wag 
ons. 

"  No,  I  am  not.  I  may  be  of  some  assist 
ance.  Come,  Percy,  get  your  cap." 

Percy  looked  as  though  he  should  prefer 
to  stay  in  the  comfortable  quarters  where 
they  were,  but  was  ashamed  to  confess  it. 

In  a  very  short  time  Mr.  Hallowday  re 
turned.  Three  of  his  parishioners,  with  two 
large  wagons,  were  with  him.  "  Please 
write  to  Mr.  Manley,  Mrs.  Hallowday,  that 
two  of  the  boys  are  safe  with  us,  and  we 
hope  to  have  the  other  runaways  before 
night.  Put  up  what  you  think  we  may 
need,  and  let  us  be  off." 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


A    SURPRISE. 

MR.  HALLOWDAY,  guided  by  Frederic, 
took  the  path  to  the  woods,  by  which  he 
and  Percy  had  come  to  the  village.  They 
jolted  over  the  rough  cart-path  for  three 
miles ;  then  they  were  obliged  to  get  out 
of  the  wagons  and  take  the  footpath.  Mr. 
Hallo wday  led  the  way  with  rapid  strides. 
He  had  not  gone  far,  before  he  stumbled 
over  some  obstruction. 

It  was  Nicholas,  who  had  fallen  across 
the  path  and  fainted.  The  good  man  lifted 
up  the  poor  boy,  and  with  the  aid  of  one  of 
the  men,  carried  him  back,  and  placed  him 
in  a  wagon. 

They  sprinkled  cold  water  in  his  face, 


128  A    SURPRISE. 

while  Frederic  held  one  of  the  poor,  burnt 
hands,  and  Percy  the  other.  It  was  not 
long  before  Nicholas  began  to  recover.  He 
opened  his  eyes  and  looked  wildly  at  Fred 
eric,  and  then  at  Percy. 

"  Frederic  Allan,  am  I  in  heaven  ?  "  said 
he. 

"No,  Nicholas,  you  are  still  on  earth," 
replied  Frederic,  tenderly,  with  the  tears 
streaming  down  his  cheeks. 

"I  thought  you  had  gone  there,"  said 
Nicholas ;  "  but  there  are  no  tears  in  heaven." 

"  Where  are  the  other  boys  ? "  asked 
Frederic,  eagerly. 

"  O,  the  other  boys !  I  remember  now. 
Go  to  them !  Fly  to  them !  Burnt,  and 
perhaps  dead  !  " 

Mr.  Hallowday  and  two  men  were  already 
hurrying  forward. 

"  Percy,  stay  with  Nicholas.  Bind  up 
his  poor  hands,  and  give  him  some  wine  and 
water.  I  will  go  with  Mr.  Hallowday," 
said  Frederic. 

"  We  will  take  good  care  of  the  poor  fel 
low,"  said  the  man  who  was  left  with  the 
wagons. 


A    SURPRISE.  129 

Frederic  now  hurried  forward  after  Mr. 
Hallowday.  They  had  made  their  way 
through  the  woods  for  more  than  a  mile, 
hearing  nothing  but  the  roaring  of  the  dis 
tant  fire,  when  they  were  startled  by  a  loud 
groan. 

They  stopped  and  listened.  A  cry  of 
distress,  shrill  and  piercing,  came  from  the 
woods  on  the  left.  One  of  the  men  who 
had  provided  himself  with  an  axe  cut  away 
the  bushes  and  lower  limbs  of  the  ever 
greens,  and  made  his  way  for  about  twenty 
yards. 

There  lay  Putnam  Holley.  He  had  crept 
thus  far  on  his  hands  and  feet,  and  having 
missed  the  path,  and  being  completely  ex 
hausted,  could  go  no  farther.  The  man 
took  him  up,  and  carried  him  to  Mr.  Hal 
lowday,  telling  him  that  friends  had  come 
to  his  rescue. 

No  sooner  did  he  see  Frederic  Allan  than 
he  covered  his  eyes,  and  shrieked  out, — 
"  There  is  such  a  thing  as  ghosts,  for  I  see 
one." 

"No,  no,  Put,  real  flesh  and  blood  it  is. 
Where  are  Mark  and  Merry  ?  " 


130  A    SURPRISE. 

"I  left  them  behind.  The  fire  was 
within  a  few  yards  of  them,  and  they  could 
not  move.  O,  hurry  !  hurry  !  They  may 
be  burnt  up  before  this  time." 

No  farther  urgency  was  needed.  One 
of  the  men  went  back  with  Holley  to  the 
wagons,  while  Mr.  Hallowday,  Frederic, 
and  the  third  man  pressed  forward. 

The  fire  soon  came  in  sight.  The  smoke 
became  so  dense  that  it  was  almost  smoth 
ering. 

"  We  can  go  no  farther,"  said  the  man. 

"O,  a  little  farther,  —  a  little  farther!" 
urged  Frederic  vehemently. 

Mr.  Hallowday  and  Frederic  went  on. 
The  man  stopped,  saying,  —  "It  is  pre 
sumptuous  to  go  a  step  farther." 

"I  hear  voices!  Courage,  Merry!  I 
hear  voices !  " 

"  That  is  Mark  Brady.  O  Mark !  where 
are  you  ?  "  exclaimed  Frederic. 

"  Gracious  God !  That  is  the  sweet 
voice  of  Frederic  Allan,"  said  Mark,  holding 
out  his  arms. 

"  Are  you  in  the  land  of  the  living  ?  I 
cannot  see  you." 


A    SURPRISE. 


131 


"Here  I  am,"  said  Frederic,  throwing 
his  arms  around  Mark's  neck,  and  kissing 
his  blackened  face. 

Mark  was  standing,'  leaning  against  a 
tree.  His  loss  of  sight  alone  prevented  him 
from  perceiving  his  imminent  danger.  The 
fire  had  actually  advanced  so  near,  that  the 
heat  was  now  becoming  intense. 

"  There,  Merry,  I  told  you  I  would  not 
leave  you  till  help  came." 

Merry  could  not  speak,  but  he  stretched 
out  his  burnt  arms  towards  Frederic. 

"  We  will  carry  the  wretched  boy,"  said 
Mr.  Hallowday,  taking  him  up  carefully. 

"And  you  will  lead  me,  Fred  Allan. 
Had  we  only  followed  your  good  advice ! 
Where  is  Percy?" 

"  Safe  with  Nicholas  at  the  wagons, 
where  we  are  taking  you." 

As  they  went  along,  Mark  related  to  Fred 
eric  all  that  had  happened  since  they  left, 
and  heard  in  return  of  his  friends'  escape, 
and  reception  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Hallow- 


CHAPTER    XX. 


FORGIVENESS. 

MRS.  HALLOWDAY  and  Etta  had  prepared 
every  thing  for  the  comfort  of  the  runa 
ways,  should  her  good  husband  be  so  for 
tunate  as  to  meet  them.  Little  did  she 
think,  however,  that  they  would  be  in  the 
deplorable  condition  in  which  they  actually 
were.  It  was  after  sunset  before  they  ar 
rived.  Nicholas  was  the  only  one  who 
could  walk  unassisted  into  the  house. 
Frederic  led  in  Mark  Brady;  Put  Holley 
and  Merry  Long  were  carried  in,  and  laid 
upon  beds,  with  the  greatest  care. 

No  sooner  had  Holley  found  himself  in  a 
comfortable  place  than  he  said  to  Mrs.  Hal 
lo  wday, —  "I  hope  they  have  some  warm  tea 


FORGIVENESS.  133 

ready,  for  I  think  it  would  do  me  good.  I 
am  not  burnt,  but  so  lame  from  a  bad  fall, 
and  a  cold  I  have  taken  since,  that  I  could 
not  walk." 

"  You  shall  have  the  warm  tea  immedi 
ately,"  said  the  kind-hearted  lady,  right 
glad  to  find  that  one  of  her  guests  was  likely 
to  recover. 

The  physician,  who  very  soon  arrived, 
pronounced  Merry  Long  in  great  danger. 
It  would  be  some  days  before  it  could  be 
decided  whether  or  not  his  burns  would 
prove  fatal. 

Mark  Brady's  eyes  were  so  much  swollen, 
that  he  could  not  tell  whether  the  injury 
done  to  them  were  confined  to  the  lids,  or 
would  deprive  him  of  sight. 

Nicholas  was  the  last  to  be  attended  to 
by  the  physician.  His  hands  had  been  so 
badly  burned  that  they  were  perfectly  use 
less,  and  it  was  even  doubtful  whether  he 
would  ever  have  the  use  of  them  again. 

That  night  there  was  but  little  sleep  at 
the  hospitable  mansion  of  Mr.  Hallowday. 
Late  the  next  morning,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hal- 


134  FORGIVENESS. 

lowday  and  Etta,  Frederic,  Percy,  Nicholas, 
and  Mark,  were  assembled  in  the  parlour  for 
morning  prayers. 

Mr.  Hallowday,  in  the  most  solemn  man 
ner,  offered  up  a  thanksgiving  for  the  resto 
ration  of  the  wanderers,  and  an  earnest  pe 
tition  for  the  recovery  of  the  sick  and  suffer 
ing.  He  ended  with  commending  them  all 
to  the  mercy  of  God,  entreating  that  they 
might  henceforth  walk  in  the  ways  of  God's 
commandments,  and  be  his  faithful  servants 
and  followers,  and  at  last  come  to  his  heav 
enly  kingdom. 

From  the  hearts  of  the  penitents  present 
came  a  deep  "  Amen  !  " 

At  the  breakfast  table,  there  were  two 
helpless  ones,  —  Nicholas  and  Mark. 

"  I  will  assist  this  young  gentleman,"  said 
Etta,  going  to  the  side  of  Mark  Brady. 

It  was  trying,  indeed,  to  Mark,  to  submit 
to  being  fed  in  this  manner ;  less  so,  how 
ever,  than  if  he  could  have  witnessed  the 
process. 

Nicholas,  who  could  not  use  his  hands, 
was  obliged  to  accept  the  same  kind  office 


FORGIVENESS.  135 

from  Frederic  Allan,  and  he  could  not  help 
smiling  at  his  own  awkward  attempts  to 
catch  the  food  from  the  fork  as  it  approached 
his  mouth,  and  to  drink  from  the  cup  offered 
by  another. 

Mr.  Hallowday,  after  breakfast,  drew  from 
the  boys  a  full  account  of  their  departure 
from  Nut  Hill,  and  all  that  had  passed  since 
that  unfortunate  time. 

"  But  was  it  not  a  pleasant  home  at  Nut 
Hill  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Hallowday. 

"It  was  a  very  delightful  home,"  said 
Frederic  Allan ;  "more  truly  a  home  to  me 
than  any  I  have  seen  since  my  childhood." 

"  Mr.  Manley  was  a  classmate  of  mine," 
continued  the  clergyman.  "  He  had  the 
first  honor  in  our  class,  and  delivered  a  most 
eloquent  valedictory.  I  have  not  seen  him 
since  we  parted  on  Commencement  day. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  man  of  such  superior 
talents  devotes  himself  to  the  task  of  edu 
cating  boys  of  your  age.  It  is  his  choice, 
for  he  might  command  any  station  in  our 
country." 

"  He  ought  to  be  President  of  the  United 


136  FORGIVENESS. 

States,"  said  Nicholas.  "  I  long  to  see  him 
once  more,  to  tell  him  how  much  I  think  of 
him,  and  to  beg  his  forgiveness." 

As  he  said  this,  Mr.  Manley  himself 
drove  up  to  the  door.  He  had  received 
Mrs.  Hallowday's  letter  the  evening  before, 
and  had  started  from  home  in  half  an  hour 
after  its  reception.  By  riding  all  night  he 
had  been  able  to  reach  Brenton  thus  unex 
pectedly. 

Mr.  Hallowday  went  out,  and  met  his  old 
friend  most  cordially. 

"  And  where  are  my  boys?  "  was  the  first 
question  asked  by  Mr.  Manley. 

"  Come  in,  and  see  them ;  a  most  peni 
tent-family,  I  assure  you." 

Nicholas  hid  his  face  with  his  wounded 
hands,  and  burst  into  tears.  Percy  made, 
as  usual,  a  low  bow.  But  Frederic  Allan 
rushed  into  the  arms  of  Mr.  Manley,  and 
whispered,  —  "  O  my  dear  friend,  will  you 
forgive  me  ? " 

"  And  what  is  the  matter  with  you,  Nich 
olas  Bolton?  Both  hands  bound  up,  and 
your  face  burnt !  " 


FORGIVENESS.  137 

"Not  a  sufficient  punishment  for  the 
harm  I  have  done,  Sir.  I  alone  am  to 
blame  in  this  whole  affair,  arid  I  will  sub 
mit  to  any  punishment  you  see  fit  to 
inflict.  Only  forgive  me,  and  then  lay  on 
the  stripes  as  heavily  as  you  can." 

"  We  are  all  to  blame,"  said  Mark,  "  and 
all  must  beg  forgiveness." 

"  But  why  are  your  eyes  bandaged,  Mark 
Brady  ?  And  what  does  all  this  mean  ?  " 

"You  have  not  heard  the  worst  yet," 
said  Mr.  Hallo wday.  "  Come  into  my 
study,  and  I  will  give  you  a  brief  account 
of  the  whole  matter,  and  prepare  you  to  see 
the  most  afflicted  sufferer." 

The  clergyman  did  as  he  had  said,  and 
soon  Mr.  Manley  stood  by  the  -bedside  of 
Merry  Lorig. 

"  Is  it  you,  my  dear  Mr.  Manley  ? "  said 
the  apparently  dying  boy,  in  a  voice  scarcely 
articulate.  "  O,  I  am  glad  you  are  come, 
that  I  may  ask  your  forgiveness !  " 

"You  have  it,  freely.      Forgiveness  is 
never  denied  to  the  truly  penitent." 
12 


138  FORGIVENESS. 

"And  will  you  pray  to  God  to  forgive 
me,  too  ?  I  have  been  very  wicked." 

"Do  you  not  expect  to  recover? "  asked 
Mr.  Hallowday,  in  a  tremulous  voice. 

"  I  do  not  think  I  can ;  but  if  it  please 
God,  I  should  like  to  live,  to  be  a  good  son 
to  my  dear  mother.  She  will  not  know 
how  to  spare  me." 

Fervent  prayer  was  offered  by  Mr.  Man- 
ley,  as  he  knelt  by  the  bedside. 

Holley  was  not  forgotten.  He  was  sit 
ting  up,  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  Mr.  Manley 
he  sprang  from  his  chair  and  exclaimed,  — 
"  O  dear,  Mr.  Manley !  If  you  had  only 
seen  how  we  lived  in  the  woods,  you  would 
pity  us.  Why,  we  never  had  a  bit  of  bread, 
nor  a  cup  of  coffee,  all  the  while  we  were 
there." 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


PLANS    FOR   THE    FUTURE. 

THREE  months  after  the  incidents  related 
in  the  last  chapter,  five  boys  were  sitting 
around  the  table  in  the  school-room  at 
Nut  Hill.  It  was  evening,  and  the  hour  for 
study  was  over,  yet  they  lingered  in  the 
pleasant  room.  Mark  Brady  had  a  green 
shade  over  his  eyes ;  for  they  were  still 
weak.  The  eyelids  only  had  been  injured, 
and  he  was  rapidly  recovering  his  sight. 

Nicholas  Bolton  sat  next.  He  wore  large 
gloves  on  his  hands,  and  was  obliged  to  de 
pend  upon  his  next  neighbour,  Frederic  Al 
lan,  to  turn  over  the  leaves  of  the  Iliad  he 
was  studying.  His  countenance  had  under 
gone  a  surprising  change.  A  large  scar  on 


140       PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

his  cheek  somewhat  marred  the  beauty  of 
his  features ;  but  the  expression  of  his  fine 
face  had  greatly  improved.  It  was  pensive, 
subdued,  and  gentle, — more  intellectual, 
though  less  spirited,  than  formerly. 

Percy  Dobbs  was  very  little  changed. 
His  coat  was  as  neatly  brushed,  his  hair  as 
scrupulously  parted,  and  his  teeth  as  white 
as  ever.  A  close  observer  might  have  no 
ticed  that  his  manners  were  more  kind  and 
less  artificial,  and  that  he  studied  with  more 
earnestness  and  success. 

Holley  sat  with  both  elbows  on  the  table, 
and  his  head  resting  in  his  hands. 

Merry  Long  alone  was  missing. 

"  I  do  not  like  the  Iliad,"  said  Nicholas. 

"  Why  not  ? "  asked  Frederic,  as  he 
turned  over  a  new  leaf  for  his  friend. 

"Because  the  heroes  were  ruffians  and 
robbers,  disregarding  Law  and  Order.  They 
were  savage  warriors,  delighting  in  revenge 
and  blood." 

"  Then  you,  of  course,  do  not  mean  to  be 
a  soldier  ? " 

"  No,  Frederic,  unless  I  am  permitted  to 
become  a  soldier  of  the  cross." 


PLANS    FOR   THE    FUTURE.  141 

"  And  do  you  really  intend  to  be  a  cler 
gyman  ? " 

"  If  I  am  good  enough  for  that  sacred 
office." 

"But  you  will  disappoint  the  ambition 
of  your  father." 

"  I  will  hope  that  he  may  in  time  have 
a  nobler  ambition  for  his  son." 

"  Well,  I  mean  to  be  a  lawyer,"  continued 
Frederic,  "  that  I  may  plead  the  cause  of 
the  innocent,  and  maintain  the  rights  of  the 
oppressed." 

"And  I  am  going  to  be  a  merchant," 
said  Mark  Brady,  "  and  when  I  have  made 
money  enough,  I  mean  to  establish  an  In 
stitute  for  the  Blind,  on  the  plan  of  the  Per 
kins  Institute  at  Boston.  Having  suffered 
so  much  from  loss  of  sight,  I  am  resolved  to 
do  something  to  alleviate  the  condition  of 
those  who  suffer  from  the  same  cause. 
Only  think  how  kind  my  father  and  mother 
were  to  me  the  two  months  I  was  at  home, 
deprived  of  sight.  And  how  ungrateful  I 
had  been  to  them  !  The  fact  was,  Frederic, 
when  you  spoke  so  tenderly  and  sadly  of 


142       PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

your  parents,  that  night  in  the  campus,  to 
drive  the  effects  of  it  out  of  my  mind  I 
made  out  as  bad  a  story  as  I  could.  I  found 
my  mother,  though  she  does  not  know 
much  about  books,  a  very  sensible,  and, 
what  is  better,  a  very  good  woman ;  and 
my  father  is  one  of  the  most  shrewd  and 
wise  practical  men  you  ever  saw." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  replied 
Frederic.  "  I  suppose  because  they  did  not 
happen  to  understand  Latin  and  Greek,  of 
which  you  had  a  smattering,  you  inferred 
that  they  were  totally  ignorant." 

"  Exactly  so.  And  now,  I  care  not  a  fig 
for  Latin  and  Greek.  I  shall  become  an 
apprentice  to  my  father,  and  learn  from  him 
how  to  make  a  good  merchant." 

"And  you,  Percy,  —  what  are  you  going 
to  be  ?  "  asked  Frederic. 

"  What  I  have  always  been, — a  gentle 
man." 

"But  do  you  not  intend  to  have  some 
profession  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly.  I  mean  to  be  a  gentleman 
of  leisure,  and  an  author." 


PLANS    FOR   THE    FUTURE.  143 

"  I  suspect  authors,  if  they  are  gentlemen 
of  leisure,  rarely  become  distinguished.  It 
must  require  much  study  and  a  deal  of  hard 
thinking  to  write  well,"  said  Nicholas. 

"  You  will  see,  then,  if  I  do  not  become 
a  distinguished  author.  Such  is  my  inten 
tion,"  replied  Percy  Dobbs. 

"  And  you,  Put  Holley,  —  what  do  you 
mean  to  be? " 

"Professor  of  Chemistry  in  a  college." 

"  Chemistry  !  "  exclaimed  the  other  four. 

"  Yes,  chemistry  !  Because  then  I  should 
know  what  all  sorts  of  food  are  made  of, 
and  all  liquids ;  and  I  should  be  able  to  de 
tect  poisons  and  a  thousand  other  things.  I 
could  even  analyze  the  composition  of  a 
mince-pie  or  a  plum-cake." 

"  That  you  do  very  well  now,"  said 
Nicholas,  laughing  ;  "but  you  can  be  a  very 
good  and  useful  man  as  a  professor  of 
chemistry.  But  you  must  study  very  hard 
for  it,  or  you  would  never  be  elected  to  a 
professorship." 

"  I  know  one  thing  I  would  do,  if  I  ever 
got  to  be  a  professor." 


144      PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

I 

"  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  I  would  make  the  college  boys  study 
right  hard,  to  pay  for  all  the  drudgery  over 
books  that  I  have  had." 

"  That  would  be  doing  them  a  great 
kindness.  Do  you  not  suppose  poor  Merry 
Long  would  be  very  glad  to  be  with  us  here 
again,  studying  faithfully  ?  " 

"  No  doubt  he  would.  They  say  he  never 
will  be  able  to  walk  a  step  again.  And 
his  kind  mother  is  so  devoted  to  him,  that 
it  almost  makes  him  weep  to  look  at  her. 
I  went  to  see  him  on  my  way  back  to  Nut 
Hill.  He  is  already  very  much  improved 
in  mind,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  he 
should,  indeed,  become  a  distinguished  au 
thor.  Books  and  study  will  now  be  his  only 
resource.  And  what  a  mercy  it  is  that  he 
has  a  taste  for  them,"  added  Nicholas  Bol- 
ton.  "  O,  I  shall  never  forget  the  moment 
when  I  saw  good  Mr.  Hallowday  coming 
through  the  wood,  with  Merry  in  his  arms. 
I  mean  to  have  the  picture  of  that  scene 
one  of  these  days,  to  hang  in  my  study." 

"  And  I  mean  to  have,  in  my  parlour,  Fred 


PLANS    FOR    TH-E    FUTURE. 


145 


Allan  leading  me  by  the  hand  out  of  that 
same  wood,"  said  Mark  Brady.  "What 
will  you  have.  Put  Holley  ? " 

"  The  scene  in  the  wood,  where  we  were 
all  eating  the  stew  with  our  hands." 

"  That  would  be  too  ridiculous,"  said 
Percy  Dobbs.  "  I  should  like  to  have  the 
scene  where  we  sat,  all  nice  and  clean,  at 
the  luncheon- table  at  Mr.  Hallowday's." 

"With  silver  forks  in  your  hands,"  said 
Mark  Brady,  laughing. 

"  I  really  do  not  remember  whether  they 
were  silver  or  not,  Sir." 

"  Well,  excuse  me,  Percy  ;  that  is  a  good 
omen,"  replied  Mark. 

"  Frederic,  you  have  not  told'  us  what 
scene  you  should  like  best." 

Frederic  hesitated.  The  boys  urged 
him ;  still  he  declined.  Their  curiosity 
was  the  more  excited.  At  length  he  said, 
— "  The  picture  I  would  have  hung  over 
the  mantel-piece  in  my  parlour  should  be 
something  of  this  sort.  The  porch  to  a 
Gothic  church.  A  graceful  elm  hanging 
over  it.  Two  pale  and  weary  boys  lying 
13 


146       PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

asleep  under  the  porch.  A  beautiful  young 
girl,  with  a  basket  on  one  arm,  and  a  pitcher 
in  her  hand,  standing  and  looking  with 
wonder  and  compassion  at  the  strangers." 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


PICTURES    FROM    REAL    LIFE. 

MANY  years  after,  a  gentleman  and  lady 
were  sitting,  one  evening,  in  a  neatly  fur 
nished  parlour,  before  a  bright  fire.  A  pic 
ture  had  just  been  suspended  over  the  man 
tel-piece. 

"I  cannot  believe,  Mr.  Allan,  tha^I  ever 
looked  like  that,"  said  the  lady.  "  See  how 
light  the  curls  are.  My  hair  is  now  a  dark 
brown." 

"  It  has  changed  wonderfully  since  that 
time,  my  dear  Etta;  but  it  was  precisely 
the  color  that  Mr.  Long  has  there  painted  it, 
the  day  that  you  stood  by  the  porch  of  the 
church  at  Brenton.  He  never  would  have 
retained  such  a  perfect  recollection  of  you, 


148      PICTURES  FROM  REAL  LIFE. 

if  he  had  not  seen  you  every  day  for  a 
month,  while  he  was  so  kindly  nursed  at 
your  father's  house.  Poor  Merry,  though 
he  cannot  use  his  feet,  has  the  perfect  use 
of  his  head  and  hands.  Who  would  have 
thought  that  he  could  ever  become  so  dis 
tinguished  an  artist !  " 

"  Or  you,  Frederic,  so  excellent  a  law 
yer  ! " 

"  Or  you,  Etta  Hallowday,  my  wife  !  " 

"  And  what  has  become  of  Percy  Dobbs  ? " 
inquired  Mrs.  Allan. 

"  Percy  is  a  proof  of  what  application  and 
perseverance  can  do.  He  lost  the  fortune 
which  his  uncle  left  him,  and  has  become  a 
physician.  You  have  heard  of  the  cele 
brated  pamphlet,  l  On  Cleanliness,  as  a  Means 
of  preserving  Health,'  by  Dr.  Dobbs  ?  " 

"  Certainly  I  have.  My  father  thinks  it 
an  admirable  treatise.  He  read  it  aloud  to 
us  one  evening  at  Brenton.  By  the  way,  it 
was  the  very  evening  after  the  Rev.  Nicho 
las  Bolton  had  officiated  for  father  at  our 
church.  Mr.  Boiton  preached  a  very  elo 
quent  sermon.  Mamma  thought  it  was  the 


PICTURES  FROM  REAL  LIFE.      149 

most  practical  sermon  she  had  ever  heard 
from  so  young  a  man." 

"It  was  very  kind  and  thoughtful  in 
Mark  Brady,  to  send,  all  five  of  us  the  pic 
tures  which  our  youthful  fancy  painted  at 
Nut  Hill.  He  is  rich,  and  one  object  he 
had  in  view  was  to  patronize  Mr.  Meredith 
Long.  I  should  like  to  see  l  The  Ragout,' 
as  Mr.  Holley's  picture  is  called,  —  the  lu 
dicrous  scene  in  the  wood,  where  we  all 
helped  ourselves  to  gypsy  broth  out  of  an 
old  iron  kettle." 

"I  think  the  most  interesting  picture  of 
the  five  is  the  one  that  Mr.  Brady  ordered 
for  himself,  —  where  you,  Frederic,  are 
leading  the  blinded  boy  out  of  the  wood." 

"No,  my  dear,  the  best  picture  you  have 
not  heard  of  yet.  It  was  Mr.  Long's  own 
design,  and  was  presented  to  Mr.  Brady  as 
a  token  of  gratitude  from  the  artist  himself. 
It  is  the  awful  scene  of  the  burning  tent. 
Mark  Brady  has  just  dragged  Merry  Long 
from  the  flames ;  the  helpless  boy  is  lying 
upon  the  ground  while  Mark,  Putnam,  and 
Nicholas,  bewildered  with  terror,  are  eagerly 


150      PICTURES  FROM  REAL  LIFE. 

looking  towards  the  blazing  remains  of  the 
tent,  for  their  missing  companions.  The 
picture  is  admirably  executed,  and  the  artist 
has  entitled  it 

"  THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  LAW  AND  ORDER." 


THE    END, 


